Louis CK pretty much nails it.
In an episode of his TV show, his young daughters are complain that they're bored and, in all of existential brilliance, he responds:
I'M BORED IS A USELESS THING TO SAY. I MEAN YOU LIVE IN A GREAT, BIG, VAST WORLD THAT YOU'VE SEEN NONE PERCENT OF. EVEN THE INSIDE OF YOUR OWN MIND IS ENDLESS; IT GOES ON FOREVER, INWARDLY, DO YOU UNDERSTAND? THE FACT THAT YOU'RE ALIVE IS AMAZING, SO YOU DON'T GET TO SAY I'M BORED.
The French are on to something, too. In French, there's really no way to say "I'm bored." It does not exists in the language as a state of being. It does, however, exist as a verb, so one could, if one wanted, say JE M'ENNUIE, which literally translates to "I bore myself." In that sense, one's boredom is one's own shortcoming.
The French are on to something, too. In French, there's really no way to say "I'm bored." It does not exists in the language as a state of being. It does, however, exist as a verb, so one could, if one wanted, say JE M'ENNUIE, which literally translates to "I bore myself." In that sense, one's boredom is one's own shortcoming.
There is no boredom. I don't believe in it. I don't believe in boredom the same way I don't believe in gremlins. There is always something to do, or to make, or to prepare, or to question, or to seek, or to challenge, or to explore, or to find, or to build, or to open one's self to.
Sure, sometimes there's lethargy. Sometimes there's restlessness. Sometimes there's lethargy and restlessness at the same time (the worst!). For me, both of these sometimes unavoidable experiences feel akin to boredom, but neither actually are boredom. Boredom, like a vampire, must be invited in. It requires complicity, is a kind of complacency, and is a way of denying the creative resources of the imagination. It is a lack of vision.
When I was kid, and was tired of drawing or riding bikes or building forts, I'd lay in my bed and watch the room get brighter, then dimmer, then brighter again as the clouds moved across the sky and filtered the sun. I'd just lay there and watch and think. These days, sometimes I catch my step-daughter just laying on the floor in her room, staring up. I ask her what she's thinking about and the technicolor life of her mind spills out onto the floor. Even in her stillness, there's no room for boredom.
Most importantly though, there's just no time for it. We're here once, for a handful of decades, and the old people say they go by in a blink. Being bored is a waste of a finite amount of time, for which there are no refunds. Louis CK is right (isn't he always?); any moment and any experience, even the most mundane, is too vast and complex to sustain even a moment of boredom.
And if I do, in some moment of self-pity, indulge phantom boredom, it's my own fault, and my own wasted, unretrievable time.
Original illustration by Isabella Rotman
Most importantly though, there's just no time for it. We're here once, for a handful of decades, and the old people say they go by in a blink. Being bored is a waste of a finite amount of time, for which there are no refunds. Louis CK is right (isn't he always?); any moment and any experience, even the most mundane, is too vast and complex to sustain even a moment of boredom.
And if I do, in some moment of self-pity, indulge phantom boredom, it's my own fault, and my own wasted, unretrievable time.
Original illustration by Isabella Rotman
That sounds nice, and all. In a sort of carpe diem, YOLO, live life to the fullest sort of way. But it's fairly off the mark where boredom is concerned. As with all else you have your black, and white, and everything in the middle.
ReplyDeleteThere are just as many people out there who aren't bored but complacently watching television or playing video games. People that are engaged in life but not really experiencing anything.
Others find themselves bored frequently. It's that same lack of engagement, or dissatisfaction, that spurs some towards being creative. Taking bigger risks and experiencing something new.
I don't see how there's an implication that being bored means you're not acknowledging or appreciating everything around you. Nobody lives their lives day in and out with their dopamine receptors out of control. Not unless they're on drugs, I imagine.