The other day a friend used the word “just” when referring in passing to a couple of hours her son had spent drawing.  Well, she started to use the word, and then stopped herself.  She said “He was sitting there at his desk, just drawing, - I mean, drawing, and then…”

The little word had no bearing on the story she was telling, but her choice to adjust what she said got us talking about how the word “just” gets used in this way, and how much of a difference it can make to remove it. We use the word all the time to belittle things, and kids’ pursuits are a common target.  Drawing, in fact, is a common target.

This mom is at work cleaning up her language, spotting biases that sneak out in small ways, about what does and doesn’t have value, particularly in areas her son is committed to where she would never choose to spend her time.  Here’s to that.

Yet another suggestion that things are not always as they seem. This reminds me of how many folks I’ve heard say that they can only focus on what someone’s saying if they don’t make eye contact, though we tend to assume it’s the opposite. Take a look at this summary of a study (published earlier this year in Applied Cognitive Psychology) about the effect of doodling on recall.

Well-known artisan Angela Adams recently told Martha Stewart that her thriving business started with childhood doodling.  There’s no telling what’s brewing when kids don’t seem to be getting much done.  You can watch the clip on Martha’s website. (Scroll down and click on Angela Adams Rugs.)