Doodling

There’s something about doodling that gives our minds something to do while we’re sitting still and doing nothing. I used to doodle in college and in high school when the professors/teachers would give their lectures. Doodling helped me to listen to what they were saying, even though I wasn’t writing it down (I was doodling, of course). Even though it didn’t look like I was paying attention, I was, since doodling gave my mind something to do.

I’d draw tessellated patterns or landscapes that were cartoonish and had random objects in them like a surrealist image. Even though they had nothing to do with what the lecture was about, I could still grasp what was being said, even though my imagination was elsewhere.

I doodled because it was a way of keeping my mind from completely drifting off or daydreaming. I knew I had to pay attention, but it was hard to if my mind wasn’t stimulated by the lecture. There’s something about sitting still for long periods of time and listening to a speaker that just causes me to feel restless after awhile. I have to stay engaged somehow, and doodling was just a way for me to do so.