Boredom

Boredom gets a bad rap. And nowadays the “instant dopamine delivery system” we carry around 24/7 means we never have to be bored.

I like to think of boredom as unstructured moments that create opportunities for your mind to wander here and there, and back again with no particular purpose.

Being bored is kind of like dreaming, but when you are awake.

When we dream we download, process, and release events of the day. Or we revisit past events and go deeper into processing and releasing. Sometimes we come up with a solution to the stubborn leak in the kitchen faucet or a creative inspiration. Sometimes we go somewhere wacky and weird purely for entertainment value.

When you allow yourself to be bored, you get to do the same thing while awake.

As I write this, I think it would be a good idea to substitute the word spaciousness for boredom because that gets to the heart of what I am thinking about. When you give your mind some spaciousness, interesting things emerge. (This is why you get some of your best ideas in the shower.)

Here’s a simple challenge for consciously creating more moments of boredom/spaciousness: if you regularly scroll your phone while on the toilet, start with not taking your phone with you. See where your mind takes you.  Maybe you will feel bored or antsy or…something! (Maybe your family will appreciate you spending less time in the bathroom:)

Being bored has benefits.
Kirstin Lindquist