Boredom II

As a result of my current vacation, the topic of yesterday was boredom. After writing and contemplating on this idea, I feel yesterday was a much better day. There is always something freeing about putting pen to paper, so to speak, to get distressing thoughts out of my mind.

There is more to this idea of boredom that I wanted to engage with today. My girlfriend, Catherine, read my article yesterday and made a really good point about boredom that I was completely missing.

I said in my article that I enjoy discomfort and challenge, however boredom simply didn’t provide that. Catherine pointed out that boredom is one of the most uncomfortable feelings you can sit with while also being one of the most productive times (think shower or long drive thoughts where we are also experiencing it).

Her thoughts really resonated with me. As someone who actively tries to engage with discomfort to learn and grow, I had completely overlooked this, and that was a missed opportunity.

In one of my podcast episodes, I interview psychologist Dr. Jannell MacAulay. She discusses how hard we work to avoid boredom. An example she cites is how common it is to immediately pull out our phones and scroll any time we are waiting in line for coffee, waiting in a doctors office, or even waiting at a stop light. Phones have completely removed boredom from our life (or possibly just disguised it).

I am guilty of this, however the new year inspired me to reduce my Instagram time and with that brought back boredom. It’s funny to think that it felt like a new feeling I had to deal with, but, more so, I think this is evidence showing how my perspective towards boredom has shifted in the direction of Dr. MacAulays work.

As I move forward with this trip and beyond, I am going to be more cognizant of how I am dealing with boredom. Instead of grabbing my phone, I am going to sit with the discomfort of nothing and appreciate all the life that surrounds me each day.