Doodling Lately

I've started a new Moleskine journal -- the large sketch journal with thick pages and a hard cover. I've been reading up on Doodle Therapy lately and I'm trying a new experiment in this Moleskine.

For those who haven't kept up on reading my {Create} blog (which is in desperate need of updating) -- I've recently discovered a passion for a type of doodling called Zendoodle or Zentangle. I even taught a class teaching how to fill a doodle book with your own creations. It is a great way to relax my mind, push away and stresses of the day and just be at peace with pen and paper for a little while.  It's quite meditative and peaceful.

Zentangle is used in many medical settings to help treat patients for all manner of issues - from anxiety to fear of flying.  Here's an amazing list. There's also something called Sacred Doodles - a movement started by a woman who used doodling as therapy for emotional stability during cancer treatments.

The great thing about drawing these doodles is that you don't have to start from scratch. There is plenty of inspiration out there on the internet to keep your creative juices flowing. Just copy small bits of patterns that other people have created already - and eventually you'll be able to make up your own doodles and patterns as you get more comfortable. Flickr has a great selection of art from others.

I'm taking a bit of a different approach with this new Moleskine though.  I'm deliberately leaving space to journal around and among the doodles as I'm creating the pages. And that journaling is focusing on areas of my life that I want to explore a bit more, or areas I want to improve in some way.  The journaling is minimal - not long pages of text necessarily - but the little bits of text help me to focus my mind on that single thought without allowing other thoughts to cause distraction. The doodling helps to keep my mind from wandering or obsessing about stress or tasks to do or obligations - it forces me to be in the moment with my art.

I'm having fun.  :-)

~Pam