DOODLE

The word doodle first appeared in the early seventeenth century to mean a fool or simpleton. The modern meaning emerged in the 1930's either from this meaning or from the verb ‘to dawdle’, which since the seventeenth century has had the meaning of wasting time or being lazy. But to the most of us we doodle aimlessly, especially when preoccupied, it is well established that much of our creative expression is buried in the unconscious mind. We
can use doodling to unleash creativity expressions and find solutions for any daily obstacle, it is necessary to dip into unconscious at will, and doodling is one way of doing this.

Doodling allows the unconscious to render and manifest in symbolic expressions, since symbols have universal and personal meanings. When you are stuck for an answer to a problem or looking for a creative innovation, the technique of doodling will free the hidden symbolic powers of the unconscious mind, that would give you access to parts of the issue at hand that you might have missed-out on looking at. And since symbols are universal means of expressions, regardless of culture or ethnic background, certain symbols have similar if not exactly the same meaning across the human race. Carl Jung pioneered the investigation of symbols as archetypal attributes of the collective unconscious.  He discovered that the universe projects itself to out unconscious mind symbolically and that’s how our brains operate, utilizing imagery to transmit ideas and language cannot.

So what does your doodles mean?

Psychologists, graphologists and others have analyzed doodles for years, explaining the meanings behind images, strokes and page placement.

In my first article about Doodle - You are What You Draw, I did share about my curiosity for what the meaning of my own doodles because I have many shapes I write but mostly would be arrows. So I tried to search to site by site, and then i found these good articles of doodles in http://liquidblueflame.deviantart.com/, http://whatsupksa.net/ and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/.

After the meaning of shapes of doodle, here is the meaning of the placement and color of doodle.

Central Placement:

A doodle in the middle of a page suggest a self-centered, attention-seeking expressive person. It may mean a need for open spaces, rejecting restrictions and expanding ideas.

Top of the Page:

This is usually the domain of an energetic, free-thinking, spiritual person.

Right Side of the Page (if you write in Arabic)

This is the domain of the past, nostalgia or regret, it may also indicate fearfulness towards the future.

Left Side of the Page (if you write in Arabic)

Taking this space may suggest a need to communicate inner feelings.

Bottom of the Page

Doodling along the bottom of the page suggest a practical nature.

COLOR

When people doodle it is generally with whatever they have at hand. Colors though willl mean different things depending in cultural differences. So unless you know that doodle had the whatever they wanted on hand it should mean too much, but the meaning is the same in artwork as well.

·         Red

Often represents power and can indicate anger or a need to impose authority, but is also a seasonal, festive color

·         Orange

Shows social communication and optimism. From a negative color meaning it is also a sign of pessimism and superficiality

·         Yellow

Is the mind and the intellect. It is optimistic and cheerful. However it can also suggest impatience, criticism and cowardice

·        Green

Suggesting well-being, balance and growth. It can mean a both self-reliance as a positive and possessiveness as a negative, among many other meanings like envy, sickness, or money. Sea-green can also have connotations of water and the ocean.

·        Blue

Indication of stability, strength, trust and peace. It can suggest loyalty and integrity as well as conservatism and frigidity. It can have connotations of water and the ocean. Dark blue is often chosen as a corporate color in the financial sector to indicate security. 

·        Indigo

Intuition. It can mean idealism and structure as well as ritualistic and addictive. 

·       Purple

Purple may represent sexual frustration or a need to appear unorthodox. It can be creative and individual, or immature and impractical. Imagination is the key word.

·        Brown

Brown can suggest the earth and autumn. A preference for brown can indicate a conservative personality, even repression. Of course, in clothing and furnishings that depends on fashion, though trends can indicate the mood of the times.

·        Silver

It has a feminine energy; it is related to the moon and the ebb and flow of the tides - it is fluid, emotional, sensitive and mysterious.

·        Gold

Shows success, achievement and triumph. Associated with abundance and prosperity, luxury and quality, prestige and sophistication, value and elegance, It implies affluence, material wealth and extravagance.

·        Black and Gray

They indicate stability and strength
-Native American cultures black is the color of the life-giving earth.
-Western culture black is associated with darkness, evil and death. 

·        White

It is complete and pure, the color of perfection. It shows purity, innocence, wholeness and completion. 

Next time you doodle on a piece of paper be aware that you are telling the world what is going on deep inside your subconscious mind without meaning to do so. Take your doodles with you; don't leave them for someone else to interpret – because you just might be revealing all of your secrets.