Beating Boredom

Boredom is great. I think generally it is seen in a negative light (strange how many words seems to fall in the negative and positive categories: sadness, hate, happiness, love). In fact I would say boredom is one of the really defining traits of being human. Generally it denotes a lack of interest in whatever is going on at a moment in time. Often when lack of interest kicks in, our minds wander on to other things that we would like to do and this seems to intensify the boredom we feel: it is a motivator.

This is an interesting mechanism. Boredom allows us to disconnect from what's going on around us and allow us to dream a bit. Children generally don't deal well with boredom, they can become agitated and downright obnoxious. But as we get older we learn to tolerate it, and this is seen as maturity (a positive word). In learning this tolerance we can become complacent to the point that we stop recognising that we're bored and just accept things as they are.

Maybe we should be more like children. I don't advocate shouting or moaning 'Are we there yet?' or kicking up a fuss whilst waiting for a bus. But allowing ourselves to dream and create options for ourselves, to think about what we want next from life. And, also to enlist others in stopping our boredom. Maybe you'll find out they're bored too.

Boredom can also occur at different levels. You could have a completely comfortable life, a well paid job, a nice house to live in, good friends and family. So on a micro level, there's no boredom, you're content and occasionally interested in your life. But you still get twinges, nothing changes, you're just playing the same routines in different combinations. Being content just doesn't cut the mustard. You're bored, at a macro level.

The way out, is to acknowledge the boredom, revel in it. Allow yourself to disconnect, and then start dreaming of something more exciting. This will of course increase the boredom, until the point where you do something and start carrying out those dreams. It may take time, but if you dream enough, the motivation builds and eventually something happens.