Iss. #5 Vignettes of Time and The Power of Boredom

"Anyone who has never been bored cannot be a storyteller." -Walter Benjamin

The Night Sky

Imagine how the night sky would have looked in the ancient day. No light pollution, no big buildings between the uncountable numbers stars dotting the milky heavens.

And, on top of that, no Netflix, no phone, no email to check, no reels to scroll through. Only the sky and:

Time.

All the time in the world. Nothing else fighting for our attention.

Some of the deepest, most beautiful stories, and some of the greatest discoveries, were born from the ancients staring endlessly at the sky. When was the last time we stared at the sky, and for how long?

The Power of Boredom

Most people, when they hear the word "boredom", think of the state of angst or agitation that comes with having nothing to do, usually followed by mindlessly staring at a screen, whether it's watching TV or doom scrolling.

But this is really the unfortunate prevention of boredom, and not boredom itself.

If we go for the first distraction that we can find, we never reach boredom. We replace boredom with stimuli that is devoid of substance—with things that perhaps pacify our stimulus craving, but don't truly fill us.

So what do we do with this unprecedented, moment of minimal mental stimulus.

If we let ourselves exist in this uncomfortable state of angst, if we push past it, boredom can truly become boredom, and it can be a powerful thing.

Think of it this way: when do we ever give ourselves time to let our mind aimlessly wander? To observe the cracks on the ceiling, or have discourse with our inner voices, to project random scenarios and dialogues into the future, to take a random mental (or physical) detour just for the sake of exploration.

I can think of only a few: letting myself soak in the shower; taking a long drive; laying in bed waiting to fall asleep. And funnily enough, for me—and for others as well, it seems—these moments seem to be when some of my best ideas tend to occur, seemingly out of nowhere.

But that is the power of letting your mind wander. The key is, the mind needs to be given time without stimuli, for it to be allowed to wander. I would argue that letting your mind wander can lead it to explore its own sense of wonder. The cracks on the ceiling can suddenly become fascinating figures, that lead to imagery in a story. The clouds can once again became the shapes that they would find themselves in during our childhood.

It may not happen all the time; sometimes the angst will linger and continue to be angst. But that's the nature of boredom, it needs to be let be, and eventually it will manifest in different ways. If you nurture it, eventually, it will lead you back to your sense of wonder.

Daydreaming

I can think of another situation when our minds wander—during which we witness some of the most mind-bending and creative ideas and thoughts:

Dreams.

The power of dreams and the role of dreams in creative thinking have been widely recognized. Some dreams can lead to great ideas, but dreams are often too random and senseless, and most times forgotten.

But what about daydreaming? Daydreaming is often painted as a bad thing, such as in the cliché of a student not paying attention in class, staring out the window, told by the teacher to stop daydreaming and pay attention!

But daydreaming has the creative freedom that dreaming does—but with a greater sense of control to steer the daydream, and, vitally, a greater awareness and retention of what is being daydreamed.

To daydream, our minds need to have time to wander freely, and they need to be free of direct stimuli, and allowed to latch on to the more subtle stimuli that hides around us. It's often there that the greatest, most creative ideas lie.

A Few Things In Common

• Listening
• Patience
• Details
• Observation

What do these things have in common? Well, for one, they are all things that good storytellers and artists require. Writers, painters, photographers—they must be keen observers, attentive listeners, they pay attention to detail, and that requires great patience.

And, importantly, all of these things require time. To be authentic, they cannot be rushed. Often, they go hand and hand with boredom. But to someone who, through time and trial, has become finely attuned to their listening and observation skills, and their patience, boredom is not boredom anymore. Boredom becomes infused with a sense of wonder. The universe isn't boring at all! There is always something to learn, something to observe, even in the most mundane of places and things.

"Today no one cultivates what cannot be created quickly." -Paul Valéry

A World of Optimization and Mass Production

In a world of optimization, productivity, and mass production, every minute is tracked, every hour filled with something "productive". Things are made with the sole purposed of being consumed. Output is the most important metric.

Hell, most days we don't even have enough time to do half of the things we "need" to do. In the little free time that we do have, we bombard ourselves with a ceaseless barrage of stimulus.

How could we possibly hope to have the time to let our minds wander, to just be, to allow ourselves to be bored. Boredom is not a bad thing; it is a powerful thing, but for the most part we have lost our ability to be bored. We do not give ourselves permission.

Resting is vital, and I would say, so is being bored. It is vital to storytelling, it is vital to creativity, it is vital to us as humans, especially if we want to feel connected to the present, to what is around us, to nature, and to our sense of wonder.

So the next time you're feeling bored, don't pull out your phone, and let yourself be bored.