Boredom

This year, I’ve set the goal to write something short everyday leading up to SXSW. This is not only to get a clearer idea of my goals and creative pursuits as I approach a conference centered around creativity, it is also a means of working through ideas that have been weighing me down for too long.

Today, I am writing about boredom. This week I have been on vacation in Norway with friends, and it is the first time in a while that I’ve felt proper boredom. We’ve traveled 6 hours from Oslo now and were at our second ski resort for the trip.

Leading up to this trip, I hadn’t thought much about what it was going to be like. I was experiencing the allure of a country I’d never been, and I had wrapped my head around all the awe I would experience as we drove through Fjords and ate Reindeer burgers.

Of course, reality is never what we think it’ll be. Although the fjords we have seen have been gorgeous and truly breathtaking and the food has been incredible, a large majority of the trip has been very simple. Between the sun only rising for 6 hours each day and driving between tundras to reach each destinations, what this trip has turned into has really just been sitting around with friends.

This alone is a great thing. However, I think that this article and, thus, my perspective has taken a negative tone because of my expectations. As someone who thrives on movement and novelty, I am not accustomed to boredom and sitting still. I love adrenaline. I love excitement. I love discomfort and challenge. This trip has provided me almost none of that. Or, at least, I’ve become so closed off from reality not meeting my expectations that I’ve blocked myself from experiencing any of this.

Being only halfway through this trip, I think it’s the perfect time to take a stand. Perspective is a powerful thing. The remainder of this trip is an opportunity, a gift even, to challenge myself to shift my perspective and find joy inside the boredom: to find joy in the little moments, in the pauses, in the silence, in the fact that I am blessed to be in this country with my friends and with beautiful weather as another 4 inches of snow has fallen as we speak.

Boredom is a good thing, if I let it be. I’m listening to Tao Te Ching right now and much of the theme is centered around letting go. Letting go of expectations, of thoughts, of control. I must let go to appreciate what the world is trying to offer us.

Boredom is a beautiful thing. If you let it be. Now, I’m gonna let go to go enjoy the boredom this day has to offer.