My bad habit... not so bad.

If you've ever had the pleasure of sitting next to me during church, a long movie, a plane flight, and/or any class I took in college you know that I have a "bad habit" of doodling. I'll doddle on anything from receipts to napkins to paper cups. I always carry at least 2 nice pens with me just for such occasions. I also keep a small dark green leather-bound notebook in my purse, exclusively for doodling in. I've had it for two years now and every time I start drawing, I get a question from at least one person. Mostly they want to know my motivation behind my designs—I always tell them it's to keep me from daydreaming. This is usually followed by a strange look.

I guess from the outside world it looks as if I'm being rude and not paying attention, but it's really just the opposite. The doodling helps me pay attention. Growing up, my mom would draw on the church program during Sacrament Meeting. I didn't think much of it until I started doing the same thing (I wanted to be a good little artist just like my mom). Eventually I noticed that when I got home from church, I retained a lot more than I normally did. Coincidence? Maybe. Either way, I've continued to doodle my way around town.

This morning I feel vindicated. I happened upon an article in Time magazine entitled, "Study: Doodling Helps You Pay Attention," by John Cloud. Not that I needed a published article to tell me what I already know, but now I have "proof" for the non-believers that have told me Freud would have a field-day with me and my little green notebook.

Here are a couple examples of my "bad habit" in action...