On January 11th, 2016, I started a daily practice of writing a joke meditation of the day called Cracked Pot Meditations. I was still recovering from the treatment of cancer, and I was having very challenging cognitive issues, so I chose just to put something simple and easy to write every day. Posting it to the blog allowed me to have some accountability. Some of those meditations were poorly written and unedited. I have gone back and begun editing these and adding an illustration, starting with the April 27th meditation. I hope you enjoy.
Meditation for July 11th
Boredom Will Save Your Life
People will try anything in their power not to be bored. The great savior of our time is the smartphone. Perusing social media, playing games, and surfing the net wherever you are. No more standing there, staring at nothing, like a video game character whose player has gone to the bathroom.
Waiting for things is the most boring thing I can think of. Waiting at an airport, waiting for the bus, waiting for someone to finish smoking, waiting for rain, waiting for an appointment at 2 pm, and waiting for a response text are some of the spaces of time that are the most boring.
If you don’t like something, it is boring. If you don’t understand something, it is even more boring. Boredom is lonely. Boredom is wanting to be anywhere other than where you are. It even means the time you’re bored.
People fear boredom so much that they inundate themselves with busy work to stave off boredom. People are driving all over the city, texting, calling, getting coffee, and trying not to be bored. They lead more stressful lives, can’t sleep, and even have cognitive issues with thought. Not being bored makes you stupid and a tweaker.
Trying not to be bored will kill you.
Trying not to be bored also makes you boring.
Boredom has its benefits. Technology and how we find entertainment nowadays have made it especially hard for us to become bored, but maybe it’s time to force ourselves to be bored.
Daydreaming can make you actually creative
Just staring out the window and looking at nothing will get the creative juices flowing. Nothing distracting like TV, computer, or radio to take your thoughts away, but just good ole being inside your head.
This is why some of the most creative people who have lived have lived when there wasn’t even electricity. Edison made people predictable and boring when he invented the light bulb.
If you have a creative block, sit on the side of the road and watch cars go by.
Boredom is another word for mindfulness.
Being bored is precisely what they mean by meditation. Sitting there and there is nothing to do, nobody to see, nothing but you and yourself inside your head. This is where your ability to get to know yourself kicks in gear, but most people are afraid that when they go on a blind date with themselves, they will be a creep who talks too much about themselves and will want to go Dutch.
Being bored is a great way to learn humility. Set yourself to the correct size. You either think you’re the big grand pubah, or you are a slimy little piece of shit. A lot of us think we’re both of those things at the same time. Bore yourself to death and shed some of those misconceptions about yourself.
Bertrand Russell said once, “A generation that cannot endure boredom will be a generation of little men, of men unduly divorced from the slow process of nature, of men in whom every vital impulse slowly withers as though they were cut flowers in a vase.”
You can bore yourself to sleep.
Boredom is so relaxing that you will fall asleep. You could go to the gym three times a day, run yourself hectic with a busy schedule and help everyone you meet moving, but if you aren’t bored by bed time, your head will be so spun that she will keep you awake, then you grab your phone to check Facebook and nine hours later…
Lying in the dark, staring at the ceiling, and seeing shapes in the texture will bore you to sleep. Thinking about the fifteen things on your to-do list tomorrow and your regrets for the things you didn’t get to that day is only going to keep you up.
Time will have more meaning.
Boredom can remind you that you can be better at how you deal with time. Sitting in an uncomfortable position, scrolling RPG forums so that your phone can charge at the same time, while there is clean laundry to be put away, is a terrible use of time. Boredom is a sign that time is being wasted.
Boredom also slows time down. Being bored will make your life seem a little longer. Going to shows or flying down a zip line through trees like an Ewok on a stolen 74-Z Speeder Bike will only speed up your journey to your last breath, so slow down and watch paint dry.
Arthur Schopenhauer once said, “If life-the craving for which is the very essence of our being-were possessed of any positive intrinsic value, there would be no such thing as boredom at all: mere existence would satisfy us in itself, and we should want for nothing.” All this means is that depressed people are right, there is no meaning to life at all, and depression is just boredom to the nth degree.
So next time you are bored, cherish it. Put away the phone, the computer, the video games, the books, the music, and just be bored. It is saving your life.