by Russell Gurney

Created on: February 27, 2009

As soon as you realize you are bored, you aren't bored anymore. You are now preoccupied with the fact. And you start actively searching for a cure. So are we ever really bored? Common sense would tell us no. But yet it's felt by everyone from time to time.

What is boredom, exactly? Is it an actual lack of things to do? Or is it just a state of mind? I believe it can be both. In reality, it is self-inflicted. We are too lazy to do things, and too lazy to acknowledge that there is pretty much always something to do. In particular, let's assume that Nothing is something. We can actually spend time doing Nothing, and not be wasting time. The Taoists talked about this all the time. Chuang Tzu encouraged people to Master the art of non-doing'. While there are two ways you can interpret non-doing, (A. actual non-doing, and B. not doing anything to disrupt the natural flow of things.) actually doing nothing can be very eye-opening and healthy. Taking time to do Nothing allows your body to recharge and your mind to clear up a little. Both are very good for you mental and bodily health.

So I've shown that boredom can never be absolute. But of course not everyone is the same, and doing Nothing is not for everyone. So now we are left with the task of figuring out what isn't 'dead time'. This is not a hard task. There are hobbies, chores, family, friends, and entertainment all there for you to enjoy. If you do find yourself in the odd situation where you do feel like you are left experiencing dead time, then you still have options.

One main problem with boredom is that people tend to look to certain things or activities to occupy their time, while completely overlooking other opportunities. Some people think that they need to spend time with other people. Some tend to think that they should spend their time working towards something. But these options can fail, and we often think that there is nothing else. Well this is where we tend to overlook some of the most simple, but effective ways to spend our free time. Meditation is one, and so is admiring nature, napping, going for a walk, and just taking time to unwind. Time spent doing these things is not wasted.

Boredom is like experiencing time. When you think about time passing, in reality it really is passing. So with boredom, all you have to do is think to yourself: "I am bored." And suddenly you aren't anymore. The upside to this is that once you ask this question, what follows is the search for an answer to the problem.

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