Zen and The Art of Sketchbook Maintenance; about flow state, doodling and staring at fires

 

 
Today's pictures are all elaborate doodles, whereby I'd stopped trying to think too much and let the subconscious do the driving. Just scribbling a line or two, until some hither to unseen form apears, doing its own thing, quite independent of me!?! This doodle induced mental state makes me happy. I'm sure we've all to less or greater extents indulged in this pass time.

In fact we need these simple everyday things to keep us sane; exercise, trees, friends. We all know this, everyone's herd the maxim "its the simple things in life that make you happy" yet day to day we all worry about money and dream of the things we would do/get if we had more of it. What is success? What's happiness? And if its the simple things in life that count why cant we just concentrate on them?

 

One simple way  to loose all the wrong minded detritus of a high pressure, high demand, petulant society, besides doodling, is to stare at a fire. Its better than TV, free, relaxing and will clear your thoughts. But its not time wasted, its meditation; your brain needs this like a computer needs rebooting.

 

Another way to get of the mental treadmill of anxiety, is to try to achieve a state of flow. Id explain it in my own words but wikipedia quoting this dude; Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (A Hungarian Psychology professor and chief proponent of flow theory), does it better:

 "it is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate experience in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning"

 

So get really into doing something you like and get the best out of the moment you possibly can. How often do people talk of wanting to live in the moment as if its an unattainable thing, yet all they have to do, is choose to do, something...


For me, making art takes me to this life affirming state and makes the madness of modern life a little more bearable. I'm afraid I cant tell you what it is you should do. You will just have to work it out for yourself.

Well I do apologise for such uncalled for philosophical ramblings (this was supposed to be about sketchbooks!), but I do have one more thing to add, a quote from our friend Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and this could apply to a successful sketchbook or philosophical take on life:

"When people restrain themselves out of fear, their lives are by necessity diminished. Only through freely chosen discipline can life be enjoyed and still kept within the bounds of reason."

Stay twisted kids!