Can you doodle? Can you really, though?

I'm not sure what I want to think about this whole doodling thing. I will say, towards the end, I enjoyed it. It let me let go for a half hour and just think about nothing.

My doodling pretty much began with writing the word I got in class - action - in the middle of the page and doodling around it. I didn't think of anything in particular when I was drawing. I just let my hand do what it wanted to. I think that's part of surrendering, while also be spontaneous. It took a second to let myself just do anything and nothing all at the same time. I did find myself writing and drawing things that were happening around me. Weeds was playing on the television in the background. My dad was talking about hippies on the phone (don't ask me why, no clue). I was also doodling in the dining room, so I could smell chili cooking as well.

I do think that doodling can be a great precursor to great design. I found myself coming up with ideas for future projects just by doodling. It's kind of like I was writing some series of ideas on paper and smashing them all together. They won't make much sense to anyone else, but I understand what I was trying to do. I think once you create something so chaotic, you can explore new ways of expressing your ideas. There was no real aesthetic or reason behind half of what I did, and I just drew as something popped into my head. From there, one idea usually led to another. Example, and you can't really see it well, but I began with Weeds by drawing some weird creature high off his rocker, to imagining the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland to thinking about insanity and asylums. It's just crazy how one little thing led to so many others. Doodling I think could be a great tool for helping people get out of a block. Engrossing yourself and letting go can help you think of things in a way you might not have before.

I'm currently taking metalsmithing this semester at Herron, and this gave me an idea for our next project. The weird thing is, it has absolutely nothing to do with what I doodled. It came to me as I was doodling (serendipity) Just strange how it happened. Maybe doodling is a subconscious way of forcing yourself to think?

Possibly. Maybe. Kind of. Sort of. I don't know. Crazy thoughts abound.