How to Harness the Creative Power of Boredom
When you pay attention to boredom it gets unbelievably interesting. — Jon Kabat-Zinn
Distractions are all around us.
It seems like even when I wake up at 5 AM, the chirping birds and dull noise of rumbling cars are transpiring to get me outside to investigate. I attempt to write. However, my fingers pull away from my keyboard by a seemingly invisible force.
I’m heartened by something I’ve heard, that creativity is a muscle, and like any muscle it can be made healthy through training. Part of this training, I believe, is learning how to be bored.
When you are bored, it is as if the mind opens up to take in more data. More data means greater listening, seeing and noticing things that would otherwise drift by. Creativity arises naturally as a result.
I practice being bored all the time. During long hikes and runs and yoga practices. While meditating. In the midst of reading a book that is 120 pages too long. I practice being bored all the time but still not nearly enough.
I still reach for my phone first thing in the morning. I still enjoy watching documentaries on Netflix while eating dinner. I check my half-dozen social networks too often, even though I know nothing crucial will come from them.
I still feel the resistance against being bored, but this has brought me to a realization. Perhaps my progress is best measured by not looking at the things I’m failing at, but focusing on the little things I am doing right.
After all, I did take the time to write this post, without checking email once along the way!
Perhaps today, you too can revel in a little boredom. Go for a walk without headphones. Eat a meal without distraction. Sit on a park bench for a few minutes and observe whatever is going on.
While I cannot promise that creative genius will strike. It just might.
