Writing about life and arts
A mind running on the “factory setting” defaults to organizational distraction. Everydayness overtakes what was inherent fascination.
A mind surrendering to the television or the internet sits stuck in a ludic loop of changing the channels or flicking to the next app.
A mind in search of its stimulation stumbles upon daydreams and mind wandering.
The mysterious power of doing nothing intends to fill in the void. There is no lapse in creativity.
Boredom is where the synapses sing.
Boredom drives creativity for no other reason than that your mind needs something to latch onto in idle times.
When you’re bored, anything goes. Ambiguity and hyperbole are the names of the game. Your mind loves stretching the imagination and embracing irreality.
Sometimes people are too corrupted by everydayness. To perceive something that doesn’t even exist is a bicep curl for the innovative brain.
So try this: take a seat, put the phone down, and do nothing. You’ll have no choice but to think outlandish thoughts to keep yourself entertained.
If you can’t stand boredom for boredom’s sake, take on a mundane task to put your mind in a wandering state.
Doing the dishes, organizing your vinyl collection, mowing the lawn, and taking a shower are all triggers that help release you from the grip of now.
Your brain needs time to chew over all that it absorbs, which it can only do by looking backward and rummaging though experiences, memes, and fleeting thoughts to bring them back alive.
Pursing tedium rewires the unconscious mind and strengthens mental processing. The commonly suppressed emotion of boredom is a gateway to your best thoughts, an incubator of innovation.
“I’m a big believer in boredom. … All the [technology] stuff is wonderful, but having nothing to do can be wonderful, too.”
Steve Jobs
It is no surprise that eureka moments occur when you suspend the sober thinking robot and let your mind play instead.
Genius strikes when you quell the monkey mind, roaming into a chore with the means to chase something.
gif by @abelmvada
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We think in the cracks all the time. We fill in the blank spaces throughout our day with either fodder or deliberation.
The observer internalizes the outside world to create meaning. Not every thought, of course, is worth marveling. Sometimes thoughts are just thoughts — they are arbitrary with no bearing on reality. Just as often though, those thoughts bleed into our creativity.
Boredom is an idea generator. If we were smart, we’d find more free time to liberate our brain cells from all the hyperconnectivity. Idleness removes our obligation to follow the whims of the algorithm. Doing nothing is a fertile activity.
Whether we’re on the move or still in the chair, the moments in between make or break our attention, which dictates how we go about our lives.
Never bored, always on, perpetually entertained. That describes the 21st-century in a nutshell.
We medicate all our boredom, stresses, and frustrations to external stimuli on a tiny screen. All an Instagram like does is produce a temporary shot of dopamine. All Facebook does is serve our voyeuristic inclinations and spike envy. Does this behavior sound healthy to you?
I’m not imploring you that you throw your phone into the ocean, at least just yet. Having the internet in our pocket is the best thing ever. Just ask David Bowie.
But the long-term consequences of feed-based culture are not only narcissism but also feigned action. One can’t start an important and impactful revolution through a sedentary nor solitary lifestyle. We have to use our legs to go places, to stretch our perspective, and unplug ourselves from the tyranny of virtual attention.
If you are immune to boredom there is nothing you cannot accomplish.
David Foster Wallace
Humans crave light, albeit more artificial these days. If we could just pay attention to real life beyond the rectangular glow and stare into sunsets and bright moons instead, perhaps we’d feel even more connected to our conscious selves.
“I’m a big believer in boredom. … All the [technology] stuff is wonderful, but having nothing to do can be wonderful, too.”
Steve Jobs
Boredom adds to the mystery of life. When we sit alone with our thoughts, the world breaks open. Nature comes alive. Time slows down and insights emerge from dormancy.
The ransacking of human attention has been virtually unstoppable ever since the iPhone came out. Technology makes us hyper-attentive all the time, so much that we end up paying attention to nothing at all. Mobile screens drown out the dull, mysterious thoughts and replace them with bytes of cotton candy.
Don’t get it twisted: the mind is alive and well, especially when it has nothing to do.
