The last time I doodled was probably in grade school. I don’t remember the circumstances which led to the end of my doodling career. If I had to guess, it was probably frowned upon by my teachers. More to the point, my grades weren’t particularly impressive so the doodling was the target.
So much of what I hear and read these days suggests doodling is an important part of thinking, communicating and idea development. In my view, the case has been made. The problem is, people like Dan Roam (caution: Dan’s site has an autoplay video!), Sunni Brown and my 10 year-old daughter make it look so damn easy. I just haven’t been able to get relaxed and fluid with doodling. It’s been too conscious an exercise for me.
That’s where my daughter takes on the role of mentor.
Over the past week she’s hauled out the deck of cards from our Pictionary game, a pad of paper and a couple of pencils. We simply take turns doodling so the other can guess the word in 60 seconds. It’s like Pictionary without the game board or pressure to win.
It’s done wonders. Besides expanding my comfort zone, I get to watch how my daughter approaches free-drawing. Plus it’s fun and a great connecting-activity.
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