Explore the boredom
I woke up 3.46am, hot and sticky - it’s pretty tropical climes here at the moment - and went straight into a cold shower, tho it wasn’t so cold, enough tho…
I’ve noticed a lot more scrolling of late and watching YT vids, I think a sense of longing and yearning are underlying - it prompted me to write this post.
Is boredom a luxury for the developed Western world? Perhaps not, tho I reckon it arises from the excess of options & overstimulation rather than too little, but I’m sure everyone feels it in someway.
These are notes (from over the years, rehashed) on why boredom doesn’t need to be boring, and can actually be an entry to a greater understanding of oneself.
Boredom is a Mirror
If you want to see how addicted you are to distraction, stimulation, and controlled by them - be bored, do nothing - you’ll be shown some things.
Restlessness, discomfort, justifying things to yourself etc. By facing this, you confront the parts of you that fears emptiness — and begin reclaiming power from the impulses that seem to be in control. Sit in boredom not as a punishment but as a path to freedom.
Boredom is a Gateway
I noticed that when I stopped numbing & distracting myself for periods of time (yeh, it still happens to this day, but I have gone long periods enough to note comparison), boredom reveals the stillness beneath the constant doing - the mind perceives this space as one to fill, but the stillness speaks too.
Boredom is an invitation to slow down and be with what is, learning to remain in the subtle layers of awareness that are usually overlooked.
Boredom Reveals
What I’ve noticed is that as I stayed in spaces of boredom, when the noise of the world quietens— the things I truly longed for began to arise. As I got better at being with the restlessness & the yearning, it showed me what is missing & what I’m engaging in that is misaligned. The emptiness only felt so loud because I didn’t want to listen.
Boredom is Strengthening
Actually sitting with boredom without escaping it naturally builds the capacity to be with discomfort. It may be not something you want to hear if you’re always getting rid of it, but you can see how it teaches patience by settling into discomfort and calms a nervous system that’s been conditioned to require stimulation. There’s a little more space than to respond rather than react in the midst of triggers because of the greater capactity to be with what’s happening rather than push it away.
Boredom and Creativity
All my writing has emerged from spaces of silence and stillness - not from constant stimulation. This sense of boredom, of nothingness also means mental clutter settles allowing for inspiration to arise from somewhere deeper. True creation emerges from the darkness of the void
Final thoughts & an invitation: When this sense of boredom arises, take the opportunity to explore it in a little more detail. Zoom in a little - what’s actually here, what is being shown to you…perhaps something wants to come through, some new insight or an idea or two.
Ultimately, it’s about learning about ourselves, the patterns, the loops - what pushes and pulls us - boredom then, is an opportunity for self-investigation.
And there’s nothing boring about that.
Peace.x
Arjun