Boredom Is Not An Option

That feeling. That urge. To do something.

Anything.

Check your phone. Look something up.

Anything to avoid being alone for a single second.

Just a quick check. Ooooh! A text!

That hit of dopamine feels good.

You should track that package. You ordered it two hours ago. It should be here by now.

Anxiety is routine.

Why hasn’t she responded to you yet?

It’s been ten minutes.

Why haven’t you gotten a new like on that bangin’ photo you posted?

God forbid you have to sit at a red light for more than six seconds without a notification.

Sitting? In silence…

Thinking? Deeply…

Looking around? Just because…

Nope. Not okay. No one else does it. Why would you?

Look around any airport terminal, coffee shop, or subway car. Few people, if any, are present.

The pressure to fit in is real. Before you know it, your phone is in your hands. Unlocked. Staring at your home screen. Not even sure why. You begin tapping. Poking away. Trying to find something. Anything. You may find what you’re looking for. You may be fulfilled for a second. But it certainly doesn’t last.

We are “on” all the time.

Today, there’s an unspoken cultural agreement that we must be doing something at all times.

When was the last time you were bored for more than 10 seconds? Really… standing there. Doing nothing. For me, I find that my threshold is a couple of seconds. Standing in line at the grocery store used to be boring. But now, a world of entertainment is a few taps away.

Boredom is evil. Doing is everything.

There is enough content in the world today to entertain us for several lifetimes. So perhaps we feel an obligation to consume it all.

Or maybe, it’s because we’re terrified of what we’d discover if we just stopped. And dealt with the full spectrum of life in front of us. Emotions. Thoughts. Sensations.

But few of us do. We stimulate ourselves from the moment we wake up, to just before we turn off the lights. We’ve wired ourselves to crave distraction.

I’m tired of living my life this way. Many others are too.

We want a break. We seek balance.

Slow food. Meditation. Yoga. Retreats. Phones that are built to distract us LESS (really). There’s a movement of people looking for another option.

I’m writing this from White Salmon, Washington, across from the Columbia River. I’m here because I needed to get away. I needed to be quiet for a couple of days. I needed someplace I could just… be. And so far, it’s been wonderful.

I’m on my own schedule. I’m unreachable. I’ve stared at this view for hours and cannot get enough of it.

The desire for distraction is still there. The same brain I use at home is the one I have with me right now.

Our brains, we now know, are malleable throughout our lives. Many of us who have been using smart phones unchecked for close to a dozen years now are wired for distracted. Literally. We crave it.

This trip won’t change that overnight.

But I am ready to begin to live a more present life .

A life that’s still filled with wonderful technologies that make my life better — but also includes many moments of quiet, distraction free time to think, read, write, or dare I say — be bored and lost in my own thoughts.

Or, spend time face to face with people I care about. Uninterrupted.

Most of us, on average, spend 47% of our waking hours not present. Think about that for a second.

To spend nearly half of our lives not where we actually are is a shame. What a waste.

This mini-retreat is not going to fix everything. But it feels like the beginning of something really special.

I’m ready to take control of my life.

I’m ready to be more present.