Embracing Boredom

It has become increasingly harder for us to be bored, and that will never be any less true.

From wake until we sleep, it is possible to spend the entire day in a constant state of stimulation: social media, music, shows, videos, games, books, audiobooks, reading, and podcasts. There’s an infinite sea of stimulation at our hands.

Overstimulation is killing us. It’s killing our attention span, our focus, and our creativity. It’s making us more anxious, aimless, and unsure of ourselves.

With endless stimulation, when do we ever have the time to sit alone, in silence, with our self?

We are drowning out our conscience. God speaks to us in these moments of silence. If we never create the space to allow for this communication, then we lose touch with our innermost guide that knows the path. Instead, we are zombies in a perpetual state of limbo.

How can we ever expect to hear an answer from God when their voice is drowned out by the excessive input we consume?

Much like our diets. If we eat too much, we become bloated, overweight, and inflamed. It's important for us to be conscious of what we consume and the quantity. Being conscious and setting intention for what we consume when we do. We all know what it feels like to be "rotting" by scrolling mindlessly on our phones. It's not a good feeling; it's much like having too much of a sugary dessert.

A vital part of our nature is the act of creation. We have the gift of being able to generate an idea in our minds and bring to life in some form. This act is an outlet for our expression; it's a release. The act is good for us in and of itself. However, this act also takes a hit when all we are doing is consuming. If we look at this cycle of consumption (inputs) and creation (outputs) through the metaphor of nutrition, recovery, and exercise (the 3 pillars of physical health), we can note the following parallels:

• Nutrition = the external inputs we consume

• Exercise = the external outputs we create

• Recovery = boredom -- being in silence

We need all 3.

But the key emphasis I want to make here is that we need rest and recovery to allow for our body to properly digest our nutrition and convert it into the energy that will fuel our endeavors.

And so, to reestablish this balance of our true nature back into our lives, we need boredom.

Through boredom (silence), we allow for the storm of our outer-world to settle. We can take deep breaths, and observe what is what. We can pick apart what is true and aligns with our self. We can cut through the hundreds of voices in our head that are gathered from external stimuli and once again be in touch with the voice of our innermost guide. And as such, we develop the clarity that is required to take the action that is most aligned with us.