From the Inspirational Thought Unit
I just got back from a family vacation that was four days the mountains with no cell service and spotty wi-fi at a main lodge about 150 yards from the cabin we were staying in.
What was interesting about this trip was the stretches of absolutely nothing to do. I found myself feeling something I hadn't felt in a long time: boredom.
I actually relished it, and for a good 30 minutes one day just stared out at the forest.
I didn't try to use the time to think about my next project, or to deconstruct my life and figure out how to improve it. I just sat there.
Eventually the spots of boredom became less novel and I had to get up and do something. The stuff I ended up doing had a lot more flavor to it.
I came home refreshed and ready to rock-and-roll. I also found myself coming up with ideas I hadn't thought to put together before.
I realized that perhaps I need to figure out how to be bored a little more. It reminded me of this image I saw pop up in my feed last month:
(Source: @OzolinsJanis)
And this quote by writer Nicholas Carr nails it:
We don’t like being bored because boredom is the absence of engaging stimulus, but boredom is valuable because it requires us to fill that absence out of our own resources, which is process of discovery, of doors opening.
The pain of boredom is a spur to action, but because it’s pain we’re happy to avoid it. Gadgetry means never having to feel that pain, or that spur. The web expands to fill all boredom. That’s dangerous for everyone, but particularly so for kids, who, without boredom’s spur, may never discover what in themselves or in their surroundings is most deeply engaging to them.
This week instead of instinctively reaching for the phone, hide it from yourself and stare out a window, go for a walk (if it's not 100+ degrees out), or wash the dishes. In other words...get bored.
-Jake