How Do You Doodle?

I realize the title of this post sounds like a corny greeting. A play on words, this post is really about doodling. You know, those chicken-scratches you leave in the margins of paper without really thinking about what you're doing.

Given a sheet of paper, a pencil, and some idle time, what would you create?

I doodle words. Lists, often, but also verbal sketches. Rarely pictures.

{Incidentally, I was a writer when I worked full-time, and I still write for enjoyment.}

My husband doodles flowcharts, interface design. Some words are involved, but essentially he's drawing connections that he sees in his mind, putting form to thoughts and relationships.

{He's a technology business owner now, a computer programmer by training.}

But that's not all. Sometimes he doodles with another part of his brain, and the result is wonderful poetry!

My son doodles by drawing, never writing. Although I wish his mind stayed attentive to his schoolwork during the day, he daydreams. I know this because I see the drawings sketched in the margins or on the back of his papers when he brings them home. I see the scraps of paper he leaves all over the house. He has a talent -- a gift -- for drawing. And seeing his doodles brings me joy, because I see each one as a glimpse into his future.

{I think he'll be a designer of some type -- likely architecture, from what I see in his drawings -- when he's older.}

Childhood is a time for trying out new things, having experiences, exploring abilities, defining interests. As a parent of three children, I find myself looking for clues about what they might pursue later in life. Sometimes those clues are right in front of me, unspoken but very real.

Sometimes they're on scraps of paper.

Doodling just might be the way our inner passions are expressed concretely. Without overthinking. Just creating. Time will tell whether the clues my children leave me now truly are portholes to their futures.

How do you doodle?