The Benefits of Boredom
When boredom sets in, most people tend to complain about it, especially children. My God, do the children complain. In a society that seeks constant stimulation, that old feeling of ennui can be quite unpleasant. We have all felt bored in our lives. Those times when nothing seems to engage you. You cannot find anything to do with yourself that is adequately interesting. A sense of dullness and tediousness seems to take over the days. It can be an unwelcome feeling indeed. And if you remain in a state of boredom for too long, it can often lead to feelings of depression or sadness. Because our minds need to be engrossed with something, anything stimulating, in order to remain in a mentally healthy state.
But is boredom, in and of itself, all that bad really? We also exist in a culture where we are overwhelmed by our lists of tasks and responsibilities. Daily obligations that need to be done right now. We exist harried and frustrated, craving more hours in a day to get it all done. Never a moment to stop, take a breath, relax, and unwind. Aren’t those the times when we would actually welcome a state of boredom even if just for an hour or two?
It’s funny…our relationship with the emotional state of boredom, isn’t it? We avoid it as if it could kill us, yet in our methods of avoidance (filling our schedules to the brim), we crave it at the same time. We go to great lengths to fill our days with things to do to avoid feeling disinterested. When the slightest hint of lassitude creeps up on us, we frantically find something else to do. Always doing. And if we aren’t doing, we are planning and orchestrating what we will be doing next. When is it time to stop doing and start being?
I have been struggling these first few weeks of summer with an acute sense of monotony which is leading me straight into the depths of apathy. The lack of structure during the summer months with the children at home all day and no where we are required to be has sort of stifled my creativity and even my desire to be creative. I have been spending hours of each day literally sitting around doing nothing. Because this is such foreign territory for me, as it is for most of us, it was painfully uncomfortable at first. Until I took a deeper look at it and decided that perhaps boredom in moderation is not such a bad thing at all. Then I realized that over the past year, I haven’t had much opportunity to allow a place for boredom in my life at all. So I have decided to embrace it for what it can be…a break from doing too much, thinking too much, helping too much, processing too much.
So I am now making a concerted effort to enjoy my boredom. To utilize it as a method of rejuvenation. In fact, there are currently studies being done that are showing that boredom is actually really great for our creativity. It gives us a chance to permit our minds to wander aimlessly and endlessly. And isn’t that where we find our most creative ideas…buried in those unexplored corners of our psyche that we close off at the first moment’s notice that boredom is about to set in?
This summer, I challenge you to not only acquiesce to the listlessness of boredom but to welcome it in. Invite it perhaps. Even schedule time for it. Time to sit, with nothing to do, and allow your thoughts to go where they may. Undirected, unstructured, without dictation or purpose. And let me know if you discover some fascinating ideas right in the center of your boredom.
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee
Linking up with these Fabulous Link Ups.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
16 Comments
Jodie
Gosh, I remember as a kid complaining to my mom …”I’m bored”. But you’re right—it should be a welcome change of pace!!
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I think all kids do it, Jodie! And I have been trying to teach mine that a bit of boredom is a good thing. It’s a very hard lesson to teach though…they have very little tolerance for lack of stimulation.
xoxo
Shelbee
Babita
Oh! This is so true! Sure thing I will try!
Xoxo Babita
http://travelhues.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Babita! You will be amazed what creative inspiration you will find right inside your boredom!
xoxo
Shelbee
Susan
Quite right, Shelbee.
I work with kids in the morning, and with seniors in the afternoons. Both demographics tend to complain when they aren’t stimulated. Or the bathroom isn’t readily available. But it seems to me, that seniors and kids both, look outside themselves for their mental stimulation. The kids who require constant stimulation and don’t receive it, often act out in ways that make me crazy. That is what they want, God Bless their hyper little hearts. The seniors who want stimulation, often repeat the same thing, (stories!), gossip, complain, or stop caring about their appearance, God Bless their bored little hearts. I understand I am overgeneralizing, and hope you will bear with me as I inch my way, snail-like, towards my point. Boredom is not as stressful and unhealthy as overstimulation, and overextending yourself. Ultimately, mental stimulation comes from within, or should, at any rate.
I applaud your embracing the boredom, and applaud this post. Made me think. Still thinking.
Oh, and the outfit is really cute too.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Susan, you never cease to intrigue me with the beautiful way that you weave a story! I do appreciate and quite enjoy your snail-like approach to reaching your point! I have a vivid and quite helpful image in my head now of both segments of the population that you have described. And I agree completely that boredom is much less stressful than overstimulation. We are a society tormented by stress and anxiety because we are overstimulated. Everybody needs to just slow down a minute! I am a work in progress, for sure, but getting better with each new revelation! Thank you so much for all that you share with me!
xoxo
Shelbee
Susan
Everybody does just need to slow down a minute! Good Heavens! Now I love my phone as much as the next person, but it seems everyone wants me all at once! I can come home, lay on the couch for hours, but the instant I pick up a book and get all engrossed, it rings. And people take it personally if you don’t answer immediately. My bestie and cousin, Mary, never bothered to set up her voice mail on her phone. She used to say, the phone is for MY convenience. God, I miss her! Anyway, the closer I inch, snail-like towards retirement, the less I tend to overextend myself. I can move mountains if I wish, but I really don’t wish to any longer. Been there, done that, never going back again. Hooray for boredom!
One time, my brother told me he’d never been bored. I was jealous and smacked his big, bald head for him. What’s a sister for? Later, in my contemplative time (aka boredom) I compared myself to him. My favorite activity is reading/writing/cooking and his is taking things apart to figure out how they work. He has read exactly ONE book for pleasure in his entire life, and that was after his heart attack. My suggestion. It didn’t work for him. He likes working with his hands. Which is why he is rich, and I am …NOT, I suppose. However, I have not had any heart attacks, in spite of my fatness, and adoration of ice cream, pizza and other things not recommended by Dr. Oz. Go figure.
I, too, am a work in progress, and hopefully always will be.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Susan, thank you again for sharing your wonderful stories with me. You always have such an enlightening message in them! And you always make me laugh. And I would venture to say that are quite rich indeed. Rich in wisdom, rich in wit, rich in humor, rich in love, rich in friends, rich in beauty, rich in all the most important things in this life. And I agree completely with cousin Mary, my phone is definitely for my convenience, not everyone else’s. I never answer it if I am not feeling like it (unless it is the school while my kids are there!). And texts, too, why do people think if they text you that you must immediately respond? Nope, not gonna do it! I mean, unless it was Dr. Oz himself asking me to come speak or something! Ha.
xoxo
Shelbee
Lorena
First of all I love the cool pattern print here, you’re looking so tall and thin 🙂
and I have no problem with being bored and having nothing to do.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Lorena! It is so calming when we just accept the boredom and enjoy it, isn’t it?
xoxo
Shelbee
Robin LaMonte
Shelbee,
I love having nothing to do, but I’m never bored.
It’s true that the act of “being bored” is looking for something to entertain you or missing out on something to entertain you, while “having nothing to do” is actually the loss of being entertained.
It’s like looking at a vacation, will it have things to do or have nothing to do on this vacation?
I prefer having nothing to do and unplugging.
Hugs,
Robin
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Robin, thank you so much for this perspective on boredom. There is a difference, for sure, between having nothing to do and being bored. And I definitely welcome those fleeting moments when there is nothing to do. It is the perfect occasion to unplug and unwind. Have a wonderful weekend!
xoxo
Shelbee
daydreams of a mum
This is such a great post. Though bored kids kids are the bane of my life . I quite like just sitting and letting my mind wander a bit. Like you say it’s great for creativity. I’m fully on board with a bit of boredom these summer holidays!!!Thank you for linking to #blogcrush
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Kelly, thanks so much for commenting and sharing your perspective on boredom. I hear you on bored kids…they really don’t know how they will welcome boredom in about 10-15 years! Quiet contemplation is always good for the soul. Have a great day!
xoxo
Shelbee
Marilee J. Gramith
Having been retired for 7 years this was definitely something I needed to make peace with. My life as a teacher was high stress and high work load with “homework” most nights of the week. Having summers off was a wonderful respite from the hurried pave of the school year and sort of provided “practice” for retirement.
You’re point about embracing time to do nothing, is a healthy challenge for your readers. What ever happened to rest and rehabilitation or just authentic chillin’?
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Jude, thanks so much for sharing your personal experience with boredom. I was just talking to my neighbor the other day about this same thing…she is a teacher and mother of 3…and she was saying how much she welcomes the boredom of summer time as well and uses it as an opportunity to allow her creativity to flow. I am becoming quite adept at “authentic chillin’” these days and I have no guilt about it…which is the point of it all, I suppose…guilt-free rest and relaxation!
xoxo
Shelbee