One of the common protests people make about the idea of living forever is they say they will get bored going on and on forever.
What is boredom? A description I’ve heard, that rings true for me, is that boredom is the “feeling” we get when we are suppressing our feelings more than at other times. Do we feel bored when we are feeling angry? Or sad? Nope.
Boredom is usually linked with having nothing to do, and the prescribed cure usually seems to be to get busy. But if boredom comes from suppressing feelings, the “getting busy” may quite likely be just a cover-up, and the feelings get even more buried. And we all know what suppressed, buried feelings do, don’t we! Read illness, addiction, depression, accidents…
Most of us would have times when we are not doing anything in particular, but we feel content and with-it… and not bored. To me this shows boredom isn’t really caused by being unoccupied.
Perhaps boredom gets lumped in with being idle because it is when we don’t have distractions that we are more likely to feel those “dangerous” feelings, and we quickly suppress them, leaving us with that good ol’ BORED feeling.
So what to do with boredom?
I find it can be interesting to deliberately allow myself to experience all my feelings if I notice I am feeling bored. Once the feelings start to flow, I definitely don’t feel bored. It’s certainly not dull. Whether the feelings are joy, fear, sadness, excitement or anger, the episode becomes a fascinating journey. Which may well lead to me realizing I need to say something or do something, to get something moving in my life that has been blocked.
Apart from the health benefits of feeling our feelings, being in touch with feelings and not being all blocked up leads to better connection with other people and greater creativity (just ask a songwriter!) All of which is conducive to wanting to live longer.
Another thing about boredom and living forever…
I reckon most people are interested enough in life to at least stay around till the next day. So why wouldn’t it always be like that? Assuming we will develop the ability to stay young and healthy (that’s another topic!), why wouldn’t we actually experience an ever INCREASING interest in being alive the next day?
I’d love to hear what you think about this. – Robin
photo by riot jane
Hi Robin
I agree with you, I think boredom can also come from the feeling of being overwhelmed by having too much to do and not knowing where to start,
sounds odd I know, you would think having lots to do that you would have no time to get bored.
If one day is great wouldn’t you be looking forward to the next one,
I know I would.
Great writing.
boredom? Really?
oh i could go on a rant. 🙂
I can’t imagine a bored day. Life is too uncertain and mysterious for me to ever feel bored. Overwhelmed at times maybe, but bored?
fact is though my friend, the world is bored. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t need constant amusements and distractions.
a though provoking post. THANKS!
Robin – There seems to be so much to do, learn, and experience in this life that I’m not sure I would ever get bored. Often, it seems like life passes by so quickly that we hardly have time to really live. I think if we all lived MUCH longer, then we would enjoy it so much more.
Oh Robin, to be bored, as in to have nothing else to do, nothing else to learn, nothing else to experience. Can’t happen! As you said, boredom as we know it is usually caused by the suppression of some emotion or by our perception that there must be something better to do than what we are currently doing. Our culture tells us that we must be bored if we are doing the same thing or not doing enough.
It really is a matter of awareness and of perception.
@ Frank – thanks for your comment Frankie (see u in the kitchen)
@Harmony – thanks Harmony – great that you love life so much!
@Jeff – Hi and thanks for your comment – your site shows you really have a passion for life!
@Mark – that’s a good point – that boredom is also caused by not being willing to be where we’re at (I think I got that right). Thanks for your insights!
PS – I’m sure everyone reading this blog has a passion for life – whether or not they agree with these concepts.
Robin,
Thanks for this post. I think boredom is a spiritual problem – it reveals that something inside us isn’t quite as it should be. It’s interesting how boredom is such a big problem in an age of infinite choice – it’s like the choice paralyses us (or maybe it really is no choice at all).
When I was getting my master’s degree in counseling the guest lecturer on emotions and how to use them said Boredom was always a sign of deep down anger…and that when one experienced boredom it was the ultimate suppression of anger…you had to go deep to work on the root cause.
Good writing. Thank you for sending Cath the link…I could not find it in the archives…now I have
Patricias last blog post..Book Review: Transitions ~William Bridges