National Boredom Month...Are You Bored Yet? by Darlene Beck Jacobson
Being confined to the house and our own backyards these past four months has led to many adjustments and challenges. How to occupy our time productively might be one of them. How many closets have we cleaned? How much Netflix have we streamed? How many jigsaw puzzles have we completed? How many pizzas have we consumed?
For some of us, the boredom of our forced isolation may have set in, making us itchy for something, anything different. Here's where imagination comes in handy.
I hope no one will judge me or pass criticism when I say this, but I am one of those people who is rarely if ever BORED. When I retired from teaching in 2010, the first question I was asked was "Won't you be bored in your retirement, with no work to do?"
My answer then and now has always been this: There are not enough hours in the day in which to pursue all the things I am interested in. Exploring nature, reading, writing, quilting, gardening, learning to play a musical instrument, crafting, traveling to places I've never been, learning new things, problem solving, making something new - whether it's a recipe or a stained-glass panel, meeting up with friends old and new. The list is long and continues to grow.
So, for me the best way to celebrate a thing like boredom is to ask yourself: Now that I have more free time than I'll probably ever have for a long while, what do I want to do?
Grow a giant pumpkin? Be the best pool player in town? Hike somewhere you've never gone before? Taste every craft beer in your state? Learn how to MAKE craft beer?
Then...cape diem! Make it happen. Enjoy this gift of time and make your dreams reality.
For some of us, the boredom of our forced isolation may have set in, making us itchy for something, anything different. Here's where imagination comes in handy.
I hope no one will judge me or pass criticism when I say this, but I am one of those people who is rarely if ever BORED. When I retired from teaching in 2010, the first question I was asked was "Won't you be bored in your retirement, with no work to do?"
My answer then and now has always been this: There are not enough hours in the day in which to pursue all the things I am interested in. Exploring nature, reading, writing, quilting, gardening, learning to play a musical instrument, crafting, traveling to places I've never been, learning new things, problem solving, making something new - whether it's a recipe or a stained-glass panel, meeting up with friends old and new. The list is long and continues to grow.
So, for me the best way to celebrate a thing like boredom is to ask yourself: Now that I have more free time than I'll probably ever have for a long while, what do I want to do?
Grow a giant pumpkin? Be the best pool player in town? Hike somewhere you've never gone before? Taste every craft beer in your state? Learn how to MAKE craft beer?
Then...cape diem! Make it happen. Enjoy this gift of time and make your dreams reality.
For me, the best stress relief has always been to just get busy. :) Love that tree!
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