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26 Simple Ways to Nurture Your Creative Life

#4: Doodle ‘n’ Draw Cartoony Things

Unleash the subconscious playful you!

By Chris Dunmire

Note: the following letter contains tongue-in-cheek humor from a teenage perspective. Please read with a sense of humor.

Dear Mrs. Steube,

I know this letter is 21 years late, but I just realized something rather important in my creative life that I didn’t have the foresight to know in your 8th grade reading arts class. I’m sure you don’t get many letters from former students, so please know that this letter is half a confession and half a thank you note.

First the confession. I know that 1986 was a long time ago and you probably don’t remember me from your class, but during the semester when you made us read Ray Bradbury’s 1951 book The Illustrated Man, I spent most of our discussion time doodling in my notebook and drawing cartoony things on my Trapper Keeper folders instead of taking notes and working with my classmates.

You see, that book with all of its strange science fiction stories was a bit whacked out for me, so I took comfort in unleashing my creativity in black and blue ballpoint pen doodles while keeping watchful eye on the clock, counting down the minutes until the bell rang. I know, I know, those “C’s” I earned on my essay tests reflected poorly on me, but in hindsight I can see that it was fate that directed me away from The Illustrated Man and towards becoming an illustrating woman.

As a junior high school teacher, I’m sure you’ll appreciate what good that cartoony doodling did for my developing adolescent self. It:

1. engaged my creative imagination
2. helped me think abstractly
3. opened up “possibility thinking”
4. helped develop my sense of humor
5. made your class more bearable

Now the thank you. You’ll be happy to know that my “C’s” eventually turned into “A’s” in school and I’ve always been a voracious reader (I just don't dig science fiction). Best of all, the doodling I did in your classroom seeded my creative garden with artistic possibilities that went on to inspire more doodling at home, in college, and in corporate business meetings.

Yes, when I found myself inexplicably DRAWN to doodling on my office dry-erase white board, I took it as my sign to leave the corporate ladder in my cloth-walled cubical and take up the profession of graphic arts. Now I'm a creatively-fulfilled graphic designer, writer, and creativity enthusiast who just published her first printable playbook, You Can Draw Cartoony Things! (for individuals and teachers — perfect for ditto-making & the "arts" part of class!).

So thank you, Mrs. Steube, for making us read that god-awful Illustrated Man book. It gave me a consistent space each weekday afternoon to practice my doodling cartoony skills in your classroom that went on to serve me well in life. And no disrespect to you or Mr. Bradbury *, but the 1950s produced some totally weird science fiction material that us 80s kids just didn’t get. •

Sincerely,

Chris Dunmire
The Illustrating Woman

© 2007 Chris Dunmire, CoachingYourCreativity.com. All rights reserved. (8/12/07)

* Disclaimer: Please know that although I personally didn't get into reading a few of the short stories from The Illustrated Man as a teenager, I realize the book was a benchmark work and Mr. Bradbury has my highest regard as being one of the greatest creative thinkers of the 20th century, a magnificent writer, and human being. My fictitious letter above is meant to be a fun piece of humor noting the creative discoveries I had in doodling 'n' drawing cartoony things, ironically, seeded during a junior high school class of reading Bradbury's Illustrated Man.

About the Author
Chris Dunmire is the founder of the award-winning Creativity Portal® Web site and is a Master-in-training Kaizen-Muse™ Creativity Coach who supports clients through overwhelm, procrastination, perfectionism, and other blocks to their creativity AND celebrates the joyful, expressive parts of being . . . an imaginary being! Connect with Chris to experience how creativity coaching can enrich your life.