Today while working on web content I listened to a recorded panel discussion featuring Google Doodlers. I recognize I’m an uber nerd and that listening to an entire presentation on Google doodles may only be appealing to me. However, the discussion in this video made me think about how we infuse art and entertainment into our environment to alleviate the mundaneness of adulthood.
Google employees truly seem to enjoy their work, which I’m jealous about, but the rest of us still have to deal with the moments of humdrum in ordinary time. How many meetings have you been in where you starting doodling on your notes page?! Believe me my friends, it’s more than just passing time, doodles help humanize the tedious tasks and activities of the work day. They enhance your ability to cope with the traumas of being an adult (i.e. work, responsibility, and commitments. They are a mechanism for survival!!!
Think about all the activities you participate in just to capture those childhood feelings and numb your adult pain. Karaoke, anything X-box or PlayStation, painting parties (check out Sips N Strokes Toco Hills), game night, sporting events, etc; a large portion of our entertainment focused cultural behaviors are rooted (or perhaps stunted) in childhood. I mean that is why America’s Funniest Home Video’s is still on the air!
The panel discussed finding passion in what you are doing and I think doodling is a simple way to explore your passions. Having a visual representation of your own desires and creative thoughts is priceless. It is the ultimate survival tool. It might also explain prison tattoos and ancient cave drawings.
Google Employees aside, most of us struggle with our adult lives; so many wish we could return to childhood and enjoy the wonders of exploration without censure or limitations. Don’t get me wrong I’m completely thankful to be employed and to be over 21 so I can legally drink. But honestly, I could do without 2 hour team meetings, conference calls, and training webinars or other adult responsibilities (paying bills, adhering to traffic laws, etc). Drawing doodles of my peers being engulfed by tsunami waves is how I survive my 9:30am meeting with my sanity! Sketching images on my grocery list is how I make an ordinary adult obligation a fun time. That makes me a better employee, a calmer adult with increased overall productivity, allowing me to stop the violence and increase the peace! Win Win.
In today’s society it is important to find the intersection of art and technology and Google reminded me of that! I may not be the best artist, singer, or death bringer (COD and HALO) but I will continue to practice those crafts because they soothe my nerdy but creative soul. We all experience the erosion of trust and ambition, the depreciation of life caused by our our routine existence (i.e. adult life). Work and Life can beat the joy out of you sometimes, but once we tap into our child-like self whether through music, writing, art, gaming, or even doodles something inherently becomes right in the world. At least it does for me.
I think it would be great to have a job that allows me to release my inner child but alas I’m a government employee so that would require about two tons of paperwork to get approved. For now I will settle for blogging and watching Youtube!
PS: To all you juvenile delinquents out there please keep your inner child under lock and key, this world is crazy enough.
All in all I learned some interesting tidbits from the video, mainly that I want to work for Google and that my new motto will be “Surprise, enlighten, but don’t enrage!”
Check it out for yourself! Life at Google – Google Doodles Panel discussion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLE1w47eRY0
I also enjoyed several doodles including Julia Child’s, Galle, Bastille Day and the Olympic series. Check out the Google Doodle archive and maybe you will find some inspiration. http://www.google.com/doodles
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This moment of Zen courtesy of Google
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