Clarity Through Crayons
I’ve got a tip for you on making clear decisions: Clarity through crayons.
Do you doodle when you are talking, or thinking? I don’t mean wonderful, artistic miniature renderings, I mean shapes and lines and such that your pen gets busy making when there’s paper nearby. I think it’s an instinctive way of engaging the right side of the brain. I do it while having phone conversations. Sometimes I write down what’s being said – habit from years of note taking – but I pretty much always add some doodling into the mix.
Last week I attended the annual all-staff training at my library job. We had several good presenters; the one I enjoyed most was an artist who brought several art assignments to encourage us to think creatively. Somewhere in her presentation she asked what we thought about emotion and clear decision-making. After some consideration, I decided emotion is essential in my decision-making, but that it can be like “white noise,” muddying my clarity.
One of the tasks was to draw a maze, or labyrinth. The idea was not necessarily that there be only one right way to reach the destination, but that the journey in itself is complex, involves twists, turns, and dead ends. Rather like life, right? Walking a labyrinth is an honored tradition bringing ritual, creativity, mystery, and the body’s kinesthetic wisdom into one experience.
Another assignment was to put a drop of liquid ink onto the page, then use straws to “blow” it into a tree, each aspect branching off into smaller and more varied branches. This was to counteract “either/or” thinking. “Always come up with a third option, (at least),” she said. “It will free you beyond imagining to create multiple solutions.”
Somewhere in the process of listening to her and enjoying my pens, pencils, and paintbrushes, I lost myself in the doing and in experiencing the music playing in the background. I felt a wave of emotion rise up – unbidden, unnamed. It rose and ebbed, like a wave, leaving me feeling clearer in its wake.
I learned from my Human Design analysis at Imagination IQ that my decision-making authority is emotional. But the key is finding the still point, the place of equanimity, of absolute clarity beyond the swirl of “what-ifs” and assorted reactions.
The long and short of this is that creative expression can clear muddying emotion. It’s a process beyond logic – whether dancing, or doodling. When your mind is going in exhausting, confusing circles, pick up some crayons and paper and have at it. You may be surprised to at the clarity that results!
Coach’s Challenge: This week when you are wrestling with a decision, take a time out, find some blank paper and crayons (or pens, pencil, paintbrush, whatever is available. Put on some music as well, and let it carry you. Let it take you on its magical detour, beyond reasoning. When you’re done, stare out the window at something beautiful. Take a deep breath, a sip of hot tea, and check in. Let me know if you’ve achieved clarity through crayons — leave a comment!
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