Doodling And The Wandering Mind

The other day at the end of a meeting, my colleague remarked how much I doodle - in the course of our conference call, I had 'defaced' a holiday card, an article we were reviewing, and created an entire landscape of doodles on miscellaneous papers lying nearby. I confessed that I love to doodle and only apologize if I've doodled on someone else's papers. My 40-something-year-old academic colleague confided that in second grade (catholic school) he had been caught doodling to the horror of his teacher/nun and punished severely. He never doodled again.

I offered my pen to my friend and encouraged him to try again.

Doodling is the expression of a wandering mind and new research is suggesting that a wandering mind may be a good thing for humanity. A wandering mind appears to be a time when our brains are not 'doing' but rather 'being' and in that state (called a default brain state) we seem to increase in self-awareness (Raichle et al., 2001; Lou et al., 2004). By that I mean we gain a greater intuitive understanding of 'who we are' in relation to our bodies, thoughts, feelings, and actions, to others, and the universe at large. This increase in intuitive self-awareness may be a key to authentic happiness (Cloninger, Feeling Good, 2004).

Daydreaming is a process associated with the default brain state and one likely important for "integrating lessons learned from the past into our plans for the future" (New Scientist, Nov 15, 2008). In light of these new findings, it is a bit disturbing that we seem to be reducing daydreaming in our children's lives through the extreme emphasis in schools on doing and producing at the expense of 'wandering'. The environments that enhance such wandering may be things like being in nature, unstructured play, boredom, and probably many of the arts, particularly when unstructured (painting, singing, etc.).

I remember singing The Happy Wanderer song as a child, "I love to go a-wandering along the mountain track, and as I go, I love to sing, my knapsack on my back....val deri val dera, val deri, val dera ha ha ha ha ha ........"

Wandering minds, wandering bodies, wandering pens doodling away - they will inevitably lead to laughter and self-discovery if we don't block their way.

References:

The secret life of the brain. November 5, 2008, New Scientist.
A relation between rest and the self in the brain? Wicker et al., Brain Research Reviews, 2003, 43(224-230).
Feeling Good, Robert Cloninger, 2004.
Parietal cortex and representation of the mental self. Lou et al., PNAS, April 27, 2004 (vol 101: 17: 6827-6832).
A default mode of brain function. Raichle et al., PNAS, January 16, 2001. Vol 98 (2): 676-682.

Comments

[kstuff]

Obama doodles, thereby making it the coolest thing ever.

[MerhabaAbi]

I love to ga a wandering too. I daydream, I doodle, I take long motorcycle rides just for fun. I also seem to have a knack for troulbeshooting problems that baffle more militantly structured minds. It takes all kinds. Peace Susan, nice article.

[cleareyes]

I don't get it. The article is tagged under meditation, has key words like self-awareness and promotes the ultimate in NON-self-awareness - daydreaming and doodling. If you really were self-aware, you'd realize you were doodling and stop it (catholic training or not!).
All this in the name of science too. Daydreaming is indeed the default state, because of our inability to be in the moment. So we need to learn to limit it with techniques for being in the moment, not the other way around. The key to happiness as the good Buddha discovered is being in the moment not daydreaming.

[Sue Smalley]

Ah good point.....but, daydreaming isn't such a bad thing....it is likely a means of exploring ideas, making connections, and sparking creativity­.....Medit­ation - as i understand it - helps you become aware of the multifaceted states of mind - including daydreaming - and in that awareness you may choose to wander (doodle, daydream) or not......
thanks for your comment.....

[research]

Who is the real self?

The dreamer?

The worker?

[userw014]

This morning, NPR's Morning Edition reported on this. The NPR article indicated that Doodling PREVENTS daydreaming. Doodlers retain MORE from a meeting than non-doodlers.

I can only think that the reason shame is associated with doodling is because it implies that the presenter is not effective. This is not the fault of the doodlier!

ref: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101727048

see also:
ref: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/02/doodlerecall.html
ref: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090302_doodle.htm
ref: http://www.physorg.com/news154937903.html

original paper: "What does Doodling do?" by Professor Jackie Andrade, University of Plymouth,
published 2009 in Applied Cognitive Psychology

Professor Andrade:
ref: http://www.psy.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/staff.aspx?id=94&gid=12