On Boredom

The world is not slowing down anytime soon. I catch myself thinking that slowing down is doing less. The days fly by too quickly, yet at the end of each one, I still feel the same. I'm achieving so much, yet I’m always feeling under-stimulated but somehow anxious, and a little bored… I never feel centered and present while doing anything throughout my day, losing myself after each check on my made-up daily “absolutely need to-do” list. 

There’s a path to a centered life laid out for you, for me. But will I sprint so fast down this path that I miss every marker along the way — when a steady pace is waiting, one that’ll allow me to see that sunset when crossing the finish line? Or will I continue to ignore these uncomfortable feelings, waiting for someone else to wheel me down the path?

With stillness comes boredom. Be comfortable with it.

Steadiness has started to feel foreign, like I need to fill that space with noise, because all I'm thinking is What good can come from being bored? And am I wrong? There is always more I could do, so why stop at all? 

As a society, we have lost the value of boredom, redefining the word to seem unproductive and lazy. In turn, we created a solution that is just a click away. Without fully acknowledging it, the slow addiction to the constant hustle became a normal part of everyday life. We have now been fully immersed, so we must begin training our brains out of this state. 

When you let the world eliminate boredom, you eliminate curiosity. You eliminate creativity. You eliminate a deeper level of thinking. We all do the same thing when we start to feel bored: start that next chore, scroll on TikTok, reach out to a friend to see what they are up to — anything but sitting in silence while pondering over thoughts.
Now, is this why we keep adding to our checklist, or keep that phone within arm's reach? Because we don't want to be alone to finally meet ourselves? It will always be uncomfortable to sit down with our thoughts, to sit and overthink the shoulda/coulda/wouldas, so we let ourselves forget about them entirely. If you let yourself sit with boredom, peace will form. You’ll learn to create something out of the silence. You’ll learn to recover and rewire. Healing will not happen in hustle. 

It is not an easy thing to accept — that boredom is your brain slowing down and taking a deep breath. We all have some refreshing to do, and boredom is begging you to grow. 

Now, if you're never bored, well… slow the hell down.

If you do not remember the last time that you were truly bored, that's your first indicator that it's time to slow things down. Fixing it will start with the smallest tasks. Slow down on your next walk, don’t ride people's heels in the grocery store or on the road. Nobody set a timer to freshen up your home; that countdown living in your head isn’t real. Nobody will be upset if dinner takes ten more minutes. 

If we slow each movement down, we will actually begin to enjoy them — and probably have increased energy to do more. 

The busy-body person living in your head is starving for the adrenaline, that rush of dopamine that follows each task. However, a hard crash is always accompanied, and continuing to rush is to risk rapid exhaustion. We are not meant to live in this constant state of high-energy excitement; it will, as well, start to get a little boring. That excitement will begin to feel eager, exhausting, and form an anxiety to take its place. All senses will now begin to dull. 

Boredom is necessary to feel, excitement must stay in rarity, sadness must be sat with, and happiness should be thanked. Slow down and allow yourself to feel each one and see what comes out of it. 

Boredom creates creativity

I try to think of it, at least what has helped me, from a child's perspective, when you had no phone to pick up.

I truly believe, at heart, we have always and will always be exactly the person we were when we were little lads. And that will one-thousand percent not be the last time you hear me say that. Whatever outlet you had as a child, whatever hobby you gravitated towards, whatever piqued your interests and made you those childhood best friends. Those are exactly the things that we need to continue, childish or not. Boredom as a child allowed us to discover the world around us, finding and shaping who we are today.

An unusual part of our brain is activated when we are bored. We start to think originally, create scenarios in our head, and come up with new ideas. 

Just as you did as a child, with no technology to distract your mind from creative development, you will begin to feel each sensation that your mind and body are begging for. Which, as it had before, will allow you to grow into exactly the person you are meant to become.