I’m NOT Bored (or No Electronic Lobotomies Here)

Really.  I'm not bored.  In fact, I am rarely bored.  I never say it.  I hardly every think it.  I’ve probably never really thought about the state of being bored since I was a child.  At that point, my options were limited to playing in my room, what my parents would allow me to do for after school activities, playing in my yard, stuff like that.

These days, though, as an adult with countless responsibilities, I am not bored.  During this time of the pandemic (COVID-19), it seems, though, that many people of all ages are bored at home ... at least they are posting on social media that they are.  Why are they bored?  One of my sister in law’s tells her kids if they say they are bored, then they need more chores to do!

Even if I have an abundance of free time, rare again for me, I am not the type to sit and watch endless TV or binge watch anything.  It’s just not that interesting to me to watch show after show after show, or movie after movie. I do enjoy reading, but I’m not going to spend all day doing that either unless I’m on vacation and even then maybe for a few hours here and there.

I’m not bored probably because I have always believed in making the most of each drop of free time you get.  For me, I would and do use that time to read, write, meditate, take a walk, work out in the yard, go swimming, go bike riding, get groceries for people who can’t get them themselves, talk to a friend, write some more, write a letter, send a friend an email, think, cook, play my guitar or ukulele, play a game, sing, something other than sitting around (or standing) and saying I’m bored.  We have more options than ever to occupy our time.  In order to not be bored, though, you have to have goals, a future goal, or end goal in mind set for something - i.e. you need to be thinking about something or planning something or actually doing something.  And if you just can’t think of anything to do, there’s always volunteering.  I’ve done some of that, too.

I’m fortunate to have visited or to have lived in many places, so I have a lot of interests including social media scrolling (it’s a time sink, and I usually find I’m kicking myself at how much time I’ve wasted upon doing it).  Maybe that’s where the “I’m Bored” anthem of a socially raised and bred generation gets it from ... life doesn’t really happen in short snippets or 60 seconds (or less) bursts of time on a video or in a meme or in a post.  It’s as if we’ve let artificial intelligence invade the front lobes of our brains to give us an electronic lobotomy.   Why?  It’s simply counterproductive.  How meaningful is your online life vs your real life?

Each day I make a list of things I need to do for myself, my job, my writing, my relatives, my family, etc. to see what is the most pressing.  Never does that list include how to spend my downtown because if I have any, I will do any of the things I’ve mentioned above.  I think if you fill up your life with good things for yourself, your family, your friends, your passions, you are not going to be bored.

The trick is you have to find what means the most to you and take time for that.  Don’t ever take time, though, to be bored, pandemic or not, each moment, each second, is precious and you won’t ever get those back, but you knew that already.