a creative waste of time

Talking on the phone...

in a boring lecture at university...

on a long bus/train ride or flight...

What do we do? We start doodling.

Nothing special, right?

Wrong.

Some people have realized the creative and meditative potential that lies in everyday doodling. They thought that this form of art needs more recognition and coined the term "zentangling". Zentagles are usually drawn with a black pen on paper squares that are 9cm in width. They consist only of a variety of repetitive abstract patterns, lines and curves. Since the patterns are abstract, there are no mistakes and you are not supposed to erase anything. This website, for example, has collected many different patterns, instructions and variations. Zentangle has its own website, where you can read about their philosophy and methods. They also have a blog where you can see wonderful doodles.

At first, I found it quite ridiculous that Zentangle is promoted so excessively, with its own website, books and a drawing kit with tiles and pens you can order. Nonetheless, I was bored and suddenly felt like drawing some of the patterns I had seen online. 

The first one did not turn out very pretty. In fact, I was disappointed that my pattern looked nothing like the one I had seen online, but I had a sudden motivation to try another one. I put on some relaxing music - this playlist by Justin Vernon, by the way - and started tangling again. At some point, I heard a knocking at my door. It was my mum, who was furious because I had been on the computer (listening to music) for more than two hours. Yes, I spent two full hours doodling!

These are the ones I drew:

If I said that those were two wasted hours, I would be lying. Actually, the doodling was a form of meditation and I feel completely relaxed now. It is also oddly rewarding to be creative in such a simple way.

I still feel opposed to the fact that something so natural as doodling is being commercialised, but that does not mean that doodling itself is a worthless pastime. Quite the opposite, it is challenging and at the same time calming - two hours doodling are definitely more fun than two hours of watching TV.

As always, there are some people who put more effort into their work than others, and their doodles are undeniably works of art: