Written by My favorite vacation spots have always come with a sandy beach and ocean view. Since I didn’t visit a beach until I was already an adult, I never got to make a sand castle, so I figured I would for today’s doodlewash. I’ve always imagined it would be fun to construct a castle made entirely of sand but it’s just been a dream of mine. And since it’s also been a rather long time since I’ve visited a beach, I’m traveling to my other favorite vacation spot today – my imagination. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been prone to chronic daydreaming. This can seem quite normal as a child, but as an adult who suddenly checks out of a conversation leaving the other person to ask, “where did you just go?” it can often be embarassing.
Even though I’ve always had creative jobs, there’s that terrifying time when you’re supposed to sit and commit to paying attention in a meeting. The trouble is, I hate meetings and quickly lose interest. I figure anything that truly needs to be accomplished as a group can be done in less than 30 minutes, which is coincidentally the maximum length of my attention span. Unfortunately, meetings tend to drag on past this point and that’s when my mind goes on vacation. Soon the conversations around me become light mumbling and I’ve blissfully traveled to a place where nobody is chattering on about things that don’t matter. I suppose it’s a sort of defense mechanism. But soon enough, I’m cruelly jolted back to reality when out of the murmurs I hear someone call my name.
This is always a bit distressing, because I, of course, have zero clue as to what the group has been discussing for the past 20 minutes. So when suddenly prompted for my opinion on who knows what, I always just say, “Is it really a question? I think we all know what we need to do next.” This inevitably causes someone from the group to blurt out the “solution” and the meeting can finally come to an end. Ironically, this solution is always something I heard in the first 30 minutes when I was actually paying attention, so it turns out I missed nothing at all. As an added bonus, I then get invited to fewer and fewer meetings. But meetings are not where creativity happens. Creativity is far more likely to occur when you’re letting your mind wander to a lovely daydreamed beach, happily collecting imaginary seashells, and perhaps, even pausing long enough to fulfill a childhood dream of building a sand castle.
Join Us For The August Doodlewash Adventure! Click Here to Learn More!
About the Doodlewash
M. Graham Watercolors: Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, Azo Yellow and Ultramarine Blue. Lamy Safari Al Star pen with Platinum Carbon sepia ink in a 5″ x 8″ 140 lb. (300 gsm) Pentalic Aqua Journal.
Love this! The only thing worse than 30 minutes or longer meetings are meetings that involve spreadsheets.
Thanks so much!! 😃💕 And ugh! lol Spreadsheets are the worst! I honestly can barely read them… it’s like my brain rejects them.
Brilliant answer and strategy! Long live the sand castles and wild places in the mind 😀
Yay to that!! hehe… glad you liked this post! Thanks! 😃💕
😀
fan-tas-tic post Charlie. 🙂
We need more people sharing this simple fact!
artistic Creativity…. is born not from rigid adherence to rules and shoulds and empty chatterings of what others are doing.
but it is from wandering Like a Child. creating those sand castles in our imaginations!
superb post 🙂
Awww thanks so much, Debi! 😃💕 I never know where my posts will take me as I just type out loud… hehe… but glad you agree with this!
🙂
Happy holidays. Fantastic sandcastle, Charlie! You’ve really got the graininess of the sand in perfectly and I can hear the sea. Obviously being in a seaside resort meant that I visited the beach rather a lot, but I was absolutely hopeless at building sandcastles. Some of the things people throw together are incredible, though.
I support daydreaming! And I’ll note down ‘is it really a question?’ for my own use. I am useless in meetings for similar reasons. Thanks for the tip! 😉
Hehe…. hope the tip serves you well! And thanks, Jacob! Glad you liked my sand castle! I really wish I’d had a chance to enjoy the beach in childhood, but I guess the lack of that experience is what always makes it so magically still as an adult.
I love how you went from vacation to sand castles to meetings and back to creativity. That is why YOU are ‘da man! And the most lovely sand castle ever!
Awww thanks, Jodi! 😊💕 Glad you like my rambles. Sometimes I’m just hoping they make sense in the end. hehe… no time to rewrite or edit! Thrilled you liked this post!
First, that sand castle doodlewash is incredible! I know you say you aren’t patient, but geez, that it is fantastic detail. You have also perfected the art of meetings – state the obvious as amazing insight (see: the movie Being There) and stop getting invited to meetings in the first place. You are truly a gem!
Awww thanks, Ellie! 😃💕 I don’t spend a lot of time of these, but I do have an eye for detail. Most of it involves jabbing bits of dark in the right places though and doesn’t require a lot of extra time. hehe… and yeah… meetings are a weird beast. I’m glad to have fewer of them now! Lol
I so agree with you about meetings (I also dislike) and daydreams (I indulge often).
And your sandcastle is an architectural wonder – you caught the texture and the natural slumping perfectly. If I put my finger out to touch, the whole shebang might tumble down. You and Phillipe should plan a vacation at the beach and build a real sand castle. I bet it would be amazing.
Thanks so much, Sharon! 😃💕 I wasn’t sure if this would be a fun subject to paint, but it turned out more fun than I expected. Probably because I was dreaming of the real thing. Glad you liked it! And yes… I hope we can make it to the beach eventually. I’m been dreaming about it for ages now!
I enjoyed making sand castles as a kid. I never tired of making them and sometimes we even added “landscaping” to them with sticks, berries and rocks! 😄 I haven’t thought about that in years – thanks Charlie! 🌈🏖🌞 Wonderful castle you built from your imagination!! 🐚✨
Awww… I LOVE that you added landscaping!! Very forward thinking… you were destined to be an artist!! hehe… and you have imagination in spades my friend!! Thanks, Jill! 😃💕
Good job…
Thanks so much, Stephen! 😃
Wow, for a novice sand castle builder, this one tops the grain….I think you need a sand pit in your garden, he he…..well painted, I can nearly see each sand grain, and I love the little tunnel, my eye is being pulled right through, to see what’s on the other side 😀😀😀😀
Awww thanks, Rebecca! 😃💕 Wow… yay! So glad you liked this. Would have been way more fun if it were the real thing, but it was still pretty darn fun to doodlewash!
I can see the fun….just make sure you protect it from those waves at VIRTUAL high tide!
What a nice sand castle! I bet Phineas would destroy it in a second in effort to help. 😉 Have a wonderful Sunday!
Yep!… Phineas would tear right through it! Lol But he would definitely think he was helping. So glad you liked this, Ann! 😃💕
Boy what a wonderful painting and we truly are siblings. Oh how I hate(d) meetings! I love your response to the Q. Perfect. Thank you Charlie. 💜
Lol… we are siblings!! 😃💕Yeah… meetings are kind of ridiculous, but luckily I’m with a wonderful team now who understands how to quickly do them right! 😉 I rarely have to use that response anymore now, which is a great thing! hehe
I again so enjoyed reading your post. Your meeting description made me smile. Great sandcastle.
Thanks so much!! hehe… glad you liked this post! 😃💕
Charlie, immediately pack up for the beach and go! 😄 I spent my childhood making sandcastles. We even turned ourselves into “chicken cutlets” – dip in the ocean, coat yourself with fine dry sand, cover with wet heavy sand. Imagine what the shower looked like after! At my first job the rule was no mtg could exceed 1 hour. You had to wrap it up or schedule a follow up. Have you left for the beach yet?!
hahaha! LOVE that! I can totally picture being transformed into “chicken cutlets”… that’s so awesome!! And yeah… definitely no meetings longer than an hour… at that point, I simply float above my body and even my name being called won’t bring me back. 😊 And sadly, no, still waiting on that actual beach trip!
Touching your story Charlie about your dream a really sandcastle!
In our country Holland I think everyone or a,most everyone sees the sea and make a sandcastle!
The feeling is so good your feet in the fine white sand. I love it!
And the see plus beach is my favorite too!
Hope you will go to the see as soon as possible.
I look forward at your reaction!
❤️ Margriet
Awww… you’re making me want to fly to beach, immediately, Magriet!! Love your description! 😃💕 I will definitely have to find a way to make it to the beach soon! Glad you liked this post!!
My sister paints in Oil colors and watching her paint I just feel like making a painting is such a beautiful thing.. Bringing life to the canvas.. beautiful site Charlie.
Awww what a lovely message to receive. Glad you liked my site! 😃I think painting is a wonderful thing for anyone and everyone to try!
I really love this one. I never had a castle that perfect – but it was exactly what I dreamed of when I was a child. Great doodlewash, Charlie! My personal favorite so far!!!
Aww thanks so much, Carsten! 😃 Yeah, I always thought they’d be fun to build! But turns out they were also fun to doodlewash! Hehe…glad you liked it!
I zone out too…and what better place to go than the beach? (K)
Yeah…the beach is a pretty perfect place for zoning! Hehe😃
I love your take on “meetings” and I totally agree with you but I must admit that my mind got stuck on the first few lines of this post…you didn’t visit a beach till you were an adult and you never built a sandcastle?!?! I know this is probably true for many people but it seems like such a foreign concept to me. Growing up our ONLY vacations were to the beach (a byproduct of living an hour from the Jersey shore). I spent every summer of my childhood building sandcastles (and sand-creatures and sand-people, etc). It is an absolute crime that you missed this and I’m half tempted to take you to the beach myself and teach you the proper castle building techniques! You don’t have to be a kid to build one, you know…😉
Yeah, it’s it weird to have never scene a beach or ocean until you’re an adult?! Hehe But sounds like you’re a complete sand castle building pro! That’s an awesome invitation! hehe Thanks, Nancy! 😃💕… I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t even know where to begin when building one. 😊
I wish I had read this post back when I was still sitting in on meetings. Your response about already knowing what we need to do would have come in handy, so many times. I always just said, “I didn’t hear all of the question.” I lucky as far as the beach – living two hours away from the Oregon Coast means I get there 3 or 4 times a year at least.
lol.. glad I could help, even after! 😃💕yeah, I don’t miss those meetings at all. lol And glad to know I’m not the only one who can only dream of a beach.