What Do Your Doodles Say About You?
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Photo by kiarash Heshmati on Unsplash
“I learned how to draw from being bored in school. I would doodle on the margins of my paper.”-Keven Nealon-
During long, tedious meetings, the edges of note pages inevitably fill up with essential ideas, emphatic symbols, and, usually, some completely unrelated designs or drawings.
These artistic scribbles are called doodles. Anyone who has ever held a writing implement in their hand has created one. But did you know that what and how you doodle can provide insight into who you are?
Let’s look at the psychology behind doodling and how your doodling personality is a window into your world.
Doodling geometric patterns or abstract designs
Doodles are lines that may create patterns, grids, or other straight-edged patterns that reflect an organized, tidy personality. Those who doodle with lots of lines may be orderly, meticulous people who need control or boundaries. Line doodlers may compartmentalize their lives and keep work and personal life separate.
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Doodling eyes or faces
While the psychology behind doodling eyes and faces may vary, the consensus is that those that draw faces are usually friendly people. Doodling a beautiful face can indicate a “people person,” while an ugly or unhappy one can be an outward sign of unhappiness, anger, or other negative emotion. Eyes, specifically, carry more meaning than faces.
For example, doodles of eyes may be an outpouring of a frustrated artist. But more than likely, they may sense an invasion of privacy. Eyes are often called the “window to the soul,” so doodling a pair of peepers may reveal openly about the doodler’s state of mind or hidden feelings.
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Doodling your name
Doodlers find creative and innovative ways to design their name or initials like personal attention or have a larger-than-life personality. For example, large letters reflect confidence, while smaller letter doodling can indicate low self-esteem.
Doodles of unique characters with underlines and circles around them can also convey meanings. For example, underlining may mean a feeling of high self-importance, while a circular doodle surrounding the name reflects a lack of trust or a sense of isolation.
Doodling living things
Some doodlers love to add living elements to their pages like tiny ladybugs, imposing lions, wavy sunflowers, or even adorable bunnies. Doodles of animals, flowers, or birds often suggest an unconscious connection to the striking characteristics of the doodle.
Psychology conjectures that the emotions, desires, or feelings connected to the creatures themselves are the keys to understanding these kinds of doodles. For example, the doodles of a robust and fierce animal like a lion may reflect an unspoken strength. Doodles of birds can indicate a need to escape, while doodling flowers, plants, or other fauna can be a physical manifestation of a positive outlook or a good mood.
Doodling mandalas
One of the most curious designs doodlers can draw is called a mandala. This shape is connected to the Hindu faith and mystical beliefs and characterized by increasingly larger outer rings, each defining a specific characteristic.
A typical mandala is a unique round doodle that contains sharp geometric lines, floral petals, circles, or even words. The psychology behind mindlessly creating a mandala-shaped doodle typically considers many factors including the shapes or words used, the size of the mandala and the colors selected.
While many doodles are single-color due to the nature of doodling while doing other tasks like listening or reading, a mandala doodle may take on a more significant experience that includes adding color or adding in shading mimic the use of color or different tones.
To understand the subconscious thinking behind a mandala, an evaluation of each ring reveals potentially different meanings for the doodler. Hard, geometric shapes like triangles represent the need to rise above challenges or limitations. The inclusion of circles within a mandala doodle can indicate peace and harmony, while squares represent borders or protection.
Mandala doodles also can contain bright colors in the layers, suggesting a happy or optimistic outlook, while darker hues or dark shading can reflect negative, angry, or sad feelings.
Doodling graffiti
For some doodlers, creating a new design out of what is already there is the most compelling. Graffiti-style doodlers may add a jaunty hat to a picture of a person or animal, add a humorous sign behind an unremarkable image, or add a bouquet to an outstretched hand. Doodlers who use this playful style express specific emotions or feelings that have bubbled to the surface.
So, drawing a set of horns on a picture could reveal a guilty feeling. Adding a party hat on an otherwise solemn drawing could indicate a playful or mischievous nature. Some graffiti doodlers combine other psychological elements of doodling into their sketches the addition of enlarged eyes, adding a natural background to an existing picture, or even using graphic or linear shapes to outline something already on the page.
Doodling eyes onto another image could reflect the doodler’s feelings of being watched or watching something. Adding a natural element like flowers, trees, or animals to graffiti can connect the creature’s characteristics to the doodler’s feelings at the moment. Graphic or linear designs added to an existing picture or page could reflect a desire to compartmentalize your life even on the page.
Daily doodles
These adorable sketches, known as doodles, come in all shapes, sizes, and designs and show up on everything from critical meeting notes to school assignments to grocery lists. But while our unconscious mind is busy at work, we are sketching out little hints at our struggles, concerns, and feelings.
Therefore, the next time you discover a soulful pair of eyes, a whimsical graffiti addition, or a blooming mandala on the side of your page, you may consider what your subconscious mind is trying to tell you.
What type of doodler are you?
“I do recall how I got the ideas for some of my books. Many of them are a result of doodling.” -Bill Peet, Author-