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Just because we are bored does not mean that we are boring.

I don’t know why anyone has ever felt the need to ridicule people who say they’re feeling bored, but I’m here to put this ridiculous notion to rest.

That being said, I want to wholeheartedly accredit the affliction of boredom to the greatest of people.

It’s okay to feel bored because boredom is not a pessimistic or ungrateful outlook on life. Boredom is nothing more than a momentary, and somewhat exploratory, perspective.

I believe boredom exists within a distinctively creative dimension. That it’s born around a beautifully demanding mind, demanding beautifully astounding things.

When we are bored we are searching for more than what is easy and readily available to us. Boredom occurs when we want something different from what we’re used to.

In a way, it’s the most commonplace form of philosophy. Boredom is both hollow and strong, like a bowl waiting to be filled with the weight of possibilities.

When I hear someone say,

“There’s nothing to do,”

I never suggest an apparent and dispassionate list of things to do to kill time because killing time is the worst possible thing we can do. Mary Oliver would probably vomit at the thought of us using our wild and precious lives to watch reruns on Netflix.

Obviously, there is always literally something to do, but the trick to mastering boredom is to find that distant, nebulous thing that our boredom is reaching for. It’ll set our minds spinning and inspire immediate action.

TV and social media won’t be able to push it aside because it’s the marrow of the moment, the stuff that demands our full attention.

We need to do whatever it is that calls to us as much as we possibly can.

We must choose wisely and passionately. Our minds have spent years creating a complicated labyrinth to our true desires. We believe it is absolutely essential to meld our passions with our financial goals, but that simply is not true.

We need to do things purposefully whether or not they have an actual purpose. Our passions are an entrance to a level of satiety that no amount of money or security or assurance could ever deliver.

So, if we find ourselves feeling bored we must choose not to be boring.

Our creativity is calling.

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Relephant:

How I Learned to Save Myself from Boredom.

 

Author: Alexandra Pellegrino

Apprentice Editor: Brandie Smith/Editor: Renée Picard

Photo: PublicDomainPictures/pixabay