“I’m bored,” is a frequent lament, made more so by the isolation and disruption of the pandemic. And because ours is an age of unprecedented stimulation, entertainment and media saturation, this may seem puzzling.
Never before have humans enjoyed so many options for passing the time and occupying our consciousness. Even the greatest potentates in history, despite all their riches and power, didn’t possess anything approximating the technology and entertainment choices available for occupying our minds. But here’s the rub. Occupying one’s mind is not the same as engaging it.
Now, most of us undergo transient interludes when nothing captures our interest, but chronic boredom can be “gateway” condition leading to more debilitating problems. It represents a persistent disengagement from life, placing it at the core of many mental maladies. As psychologist Wayne Dwyer put it, “Boredom entails an inability to use up present moments in a personally fulfilling way." And without a sense of that fulfillment, one’s élan vital withers. What follows is a variant of depression, sometimes of the agitated variety where one feels a mix of sadness, anger and restlessness. Not fun.
At Risk
People at greatest risk of pathological boredom are those requiring a lot of external stimulation and who repeatedly, even compulsively engage in sensation-seeking behavior. In contrast, low risk persons are less dependent on the outside world for entertainment. Rather, they rely more on internal stimulation, such as imagination, reading, learning activities, creative pursuits, or solitary endeavors like gardening or hiking—what some psychologists call “inner amusement skills.”
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Unfortunately, our world is increasingly geared toward instilling outer amusement skills rather than internal ones. Our growing appetite for passive media such as TV, videos, mindless web surfing, and other do-it-for-you technologies teaches us to crave external stimulation, and lots of it. This trains our brains to rapidly flit from one focus to another, undermining concentration and engagement, two attributes that stave off boredom.
Not surprisingly, those with attention problems have a predisposition for chronic ennui (I love the word . . . means “A feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement”). Says it well. The inability to focus makes it tough to fully engage in a given pursuit, leaving the mind constantly scanning for the next available amusement “fix.” Given the burgeoning number of people (not just kids, but adults) exhibiting attention deficit disorder brought on by multi-tasking and hyper-stimulation, it’s little wonder so many people feel disconnected and zoned out. Device-centric living gradually but substantially changes the brain, undermining the neurological capacity to zero in on anything for very long.
Sadly, when we forfeit the ability to fully engage, many activities no longer convey the sense of meaning and purpose that enriches our lives. Over time, this can lead to what some shrinks call “existential boredom,” a spiritual malaise characterized by cynicism or even despair.
Numbed by Stimulation
Bored folks often seek relief through increasing amounts of the same external stimulation that numbed them out to begin with, only exacerbating what ails them. Counter-intuitively, the best approach may be to sit with boredom for a time rather than looking for a distraction. When we do this, what first bubbles up is agitation, a restless compulsion to seek out any mind-numbing diversion in the vicinity. But if we gut it out, we may discover some new or long forgotten pursuit beginning to attract our attention. It could manifest as a renewed fascination with nature, being truly present with other people, a creative or expressive impulse, a hunger for learning, or a form of entertainment that is based in the real world rather than the electronic one.
The goal here is to cultivate what is called a “growth mindset,” which is the modus operandi of lifelong learners, those persistently engaged with acquiring new knowledge or skills. This mindset enriches one’s inner life and creates greater control over one’s consciousness, leaving little room for boredom.
Author Leo Tolstoy defined boredom as “the desire for desires.”
Living fully requires desiring and pursuing the richness that life has to offer.
For more, visit philipchard.com.
