Boredom for the Win

Nothing may be exactly what you need

Last week I wrote about my current secret adventure and the importance of hidey holes; this week I am sharing about boredom as a new superpower.

When was the last time you were bored? Do you regularly seek out boredom?

Because of the ubiquitousness of cell phones & digital devices and being wired directly into the web of everything you could ever imagine — most of us carry around a kind of anti-boredom magician. We can instantly learn about anything that pops into our head, look into other people's lives, or play a game that distracts us.

Some of us never turn our phones off, remaining always available and vigilant for a new email, text, WhatsApp, Messenger, direct message, or notification.

What this hyper-connection can lead to is a frazzled attention span, constant need for stimulation, and the eroding loss of concentration, authentic intimacy, and inner calm.

We are being spoon fed information and pieces of people's lives without context or true intimacy. And we keep opening our mouths to take in the next bite, even when it is empty calories, or even actively toxic to our beings.

Social media becomes a type of escape, a mini-travel to other places that is akin to junk food rather than protein.

What if we designated times to unplug and just be?

What if we made a goal of seeking the simplicity of boredom, and hanging out in that liminal space until our buried creativity emerges like a phoenix from the nourishing ashes of our not doing?

Here is what I am working towards this holiday season: emptying my cup. Making inner space. Being bored and not filling the hole. Becoming more self-intimate with the contours of my inner landscape. Noticing details, sensations, breath. Turning my phone OFF regularly.

My New Goal: Strive. Gently. Towards. Being. Bored.

And then: Choose what is next consciously.

Let my action be sparked from spacious awareness.

Let my intuition bubble up from silence.

Let my creativity have the space to breathe. Let wonder become a deep lake within me.

May boredom become a friend I walk with slowly along a long country road.

Ways to get bored:

Watch the clouds
Listen to leaves in wind
Make holiday cookies in bulk
Make a dozen loaves of bread
Knit something simple
Prayer beads
Repeat a song or chant
Focus on your breath
Take a very long bath or swim laps
Soft gaze at your favorite wall
Watch a fire without tending it
Candle gazing
Sitting by a lake
Sitting under a tree
Repetitive movement
Walk sloooowly

Give time to let your mind reset.

So often distractions are like sugar. When you stop eating sugar there is a period of yearning, of loss, of craving. Nothing tastes right. But a couple of weeks without sugar and suddenly your entire taste changes. Strawberries become nectar of the gods. You realize how sweet regular potatoes are. Things that were once bland suddenly sparkle in your mouth, alive with flavor.

When you gently but firmly keep your mind from seeking out sugary mental delights at first you’ll find yourself restless. You might notice unwelcome emotions arising, or your disaster mind kicking things on high. Stay steady.

You are cleansing your mental palate.

Let the emotions pass through.

Don’t feed the stories or fears.

Breathe.

Feel the craving, the yearning, the loss.

Breathe.

As you keep turning away from filling every moment and toward space and boredom, you’ll clear the addiction to busyness. You’ll discover again the beauty of color, textures, sounds, smells, taste.

Let your true heart’s yearning, your secret wishes, your most creative impulses will emerge from the depths.

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What are some of your favorite ways to be bored? What emerges from your boredom? Why do you think we avoid boredom?

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For those of you who are regularly bored and feeling flat or uninterested in life:

Learn a language
Research the long-story history of the land you live on
Become a Big Sister/ Big Brother
Volunteer at hospice
Read at retirement homes
Volunteer at your local food bank
Learn a skill
Walk a neighbor's dog
Get a puppy
Babysit a friend’s kid
Write your memoir
Find a hobby that sparks your fancy
Read memoirs
Read sci fi