What Do Doodles in the Margins Reveal?

I have often caught myself drawing something on a notepad during a phone conversation (doing so in face-to-face conversations is unforgivable) or while listening to someone's story. So too today, talking on the phone at work, I unconsciously started drawing the outline of a car on paper. Later, looking out the window, I realised I had simply been "drawing from life" - through the office window on Brīvības Street stood a bright red New Beetle. The little car looked so charming that the drawing just had to be finished.

Just as Freud once made a great fuss about slips of the tongue - which are never accidental and reveal something about a person's inner state of mind - so too doodles and scribbles in the margins of paper are not accidental. Psychologists have for a long time studied the connection between unconsciously drawn lines and a person's inner experiences. I will try to summarise a few findings briefly.

   

Drawing 1                                           Drawing 2                                           Drawing 3

Drawing 1 - indicates that the inner emotional state is not as sunny as it might appear outwardly. You are longing for genuine friendship and tenderness. Try not to avoid people but to actively participate in various events.

Specific objects such as a train, an aeroplane, a ship, or a car indicate a desire to escape from the current conversation, situation, or place and to be somewhere far away - to physically or emotionally end some relationship, to find a way out of the dead end you have found yourself in.

Drawing 2 - You feel that you have found yourself in a risky or awkward situation. You tend to conceal hurt, usually swallowing the bitter lump without showing anger to others.

Drawing 3 - Other people's problems don't particularly worry you right now, or you pay them no attention at all. Watch your expressions, because being absorbed in your own concerns, you may not notice another person's vulnerability and can even unintentionally hurt or offend them with your actions or words.

A drawing resembling wallpaper - a pattern that repeats itself endlessly over and over - tells of a certain boredom in the current phone conversation or in your life in general. Everything feels tiresome. Try to break out of the routine and monotony that is wearing you down and taking a great deal of your energy!

   

Drawing 4                                        Drawing 5                                             Drawing 6

Drawing 4 - You are filled with warm feelings and are ready to hug and kiss the whole world. That is nothing bad, so there is no need to hide your warmth behind a cool outward mask. Let positive emotions flow freely!

Drawing 5 - Crosses indicate a certain sense of guilt and an inner rejection of the conversation that is currently taking place on the phone. But perhaps the person you are speaking with right now is judging you and you are trying to cross out these negative emotions or even this person from your life?

If the drawing resembles a chessboard with light and dark squares, it may indicate a complicated situation you have found yourself in. You want to bring clarity to it, so try not to hide or conceal anything. The better remedy - speak plainly, let go of complexes and the feeling of awkwardness.

Drawing 6 - Could it be that you are trying to avoid responsibilities and obligations that seem beyond your strength?

If the drawing depicts beautiful human profiles, it definitely indicates that your daily work is connected with constant communication with people, and also a general openness to communication. Moreover, grotesque faces tell of pronounced dissatisfaction with the current situation and an inability or unwillingness to express this dissatisfaction openly. Psychologists believe that when drawing various faces or trying to portray a specific person, we are in fact drawing ourselves and our own feelings.

 

Drawing 7                                              Drawing 8

Drawing 7 - You are not easily fooled, because your goal is clear and you are confident in what you do. You always express your opinion, hiding neither negative nor positive assessments. The only thing - don't be too tense; try to take what is happening more simply.

If the drawing resembles a honeycomb pattern, you are striving for peace, harmony, and an orderly life. It could also indicate a desire to build a stable family nest, but an inability to admit this need to yourself.

Drawing 8 - You feel as if you are outside all events; you happily stay on the sidelines and observe everything from a distance.

Various spirals and abstract squiggles could also indicate a certain artistic or free-thinking nature.