The Antidote To Boredom

Johnny Cash's "One Piece at a Time" car.
Storyteller's Farm & Museum
Photo: Gary Firstenberg.

When I first heard someone share John Updike's notion of four life forces -- love, habit, time and boredom -- I found myself inwardly scoffing at the last of these, boredom. Why? Because at the time I said to myself, "I'm never bored. There is always way more to do than there is time. I have more books, more projects, more aspirations than I will ever accomplish."

Since that time, though, I have come to see that boredom has played a bigger factor in my life than I'd previously realized. And perhaps this is true for you, too.

I'll give an example. 

When I first began experimenting with AI art applications, I was mesmerized by what they can do. I didn't want to go to sleep at night because I want to play with these new toys. I had one of these apps on my iPhone and tried out every feature. I used a couple others on m laptop that were even more stupefying. (Here are examples of things I created with AI assistance.)

After a while, though, being "blown away" by these images--and the speed with which they can be produced--lost some of its luster. How is it that making mind-blowing images can so quickly become boring? 

One reason is that it's too easy... The illustrations are still very cool, and I like making them for this blog, but there is no real challenge. 

What I began to realize is that when we stop challenging ourselves, things get boring. Even life can get boring. Behind this thought is the real culprit. We are afraid to fail. Fear of failure paralyzes us, so we don't write the book that is in us or learn a new language or whatever it is that we'd like to achieve. So we lower the bar. That is, we lower our expectations so we're not disappointed. 

The antidote to boredom, therefore, is to have goals that challenge us. Go big! The bigger the better.

Here's a blog post I wrote along these lines in 2011. Maybe it will speak to you: Start a Huge Foolish Project. 

* * * 

Boredom: A Blessing or a Curse?

"It is the unknown that excites the ardor of scholars, who, in the known alone, would shrivel up from boredom."
--Wallace Stevens

Eleven years ago this weekend I wrote about John Updike's four life forces: love, habit, time and boredom. When I first heard this notion I found the last most surprising, but having periodically contemplated these things over the years I've concluded that he was onto something.

Here are a few thoughtful or thought-provoking observations about boredom worth pondering. 

* * * 

"Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is." 
--Thoma Szasz

"Isn't history ultimately the result of our fear of boredom?"
--Emile Cioran

"I am convinced that boredom is one of the greatest tortures. If I were to imagine Hell, it would be the place where you were continually bored."
--Erich Fromm

"Boredom is therefore a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it."
--Bertrand Russell

"The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom."
– Arthur Schopenhauer

"Boredom is the deadliest poison."
--William F. Buckley, Jr.

* * * 

Is boredom a gift or a curse? If it moves us to action, perhaps it can be called a gift. If we suffer from chronic boredom, it may be a clue that something else is wrong with us. Just as pain is an indicator that something is wrong with our physical selves, so it may be that boredom is an indicator that something is amiss with our souls. 

Some people suggest that boredom is a key ingredient in the creative process.

Here's an intriguing quote from Flaubert's Madame Bovary. "But her life was as cold as an attic facing north; and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving its web in the shadows, in every corner of her heart." 

* * * 

I had a friend who used to say, "Sometimes boring is good." He was talking about investments at the time but it can apply to other things as well. We've heard the expression "drama queen" as a reference to people who have exaggerated or overly emotional reactions to events or situations. Much of that drama is self-created through bad choices, risky ventures or simply a need to be the center of attention.

What do you think?

Fine Arts

I was recently contacted on Facebook by an artist I went to school with at Ohio University, Kim Abeles. Kim was a fellow art student at Siegfried Hall whose innovative work showed that she clearly had a future in the arts. My recollection was of a number of very talented young people who seemed exceedingly committed to new visions, not simply getting a grade. It was a fertile time for releasing the powers of imagination. The energy was such that I believed a movement was being germinated. But alas, upon graduation we splintered in an array of directions. Ultimately, art remained important to all of us.

Kim ended up in California and somehow, undoubtedly by means of the emerging Internet, I contacted her again in 1996. She responded by sending a book titled Enciclopedia Persona, which had been published in conjunction with the Museo de Arte de Santa Monica. Kim's work was being exhibited throughout South America.

I visited Kim during my first business trip to California in 1998 or thereabouts, and had the privilege of seeing her studio. Impressive! Some of her work included etchings made solely by placing glass on the roof and allowing the L.A. smog to do the etch. One of these was a collection of dinner plates that had portraits of U.S. presidents from McKinley to Bush in the center of the plate with historical quotes declaring a commitment to the environment on the rim of each. The power of this collection was that each image had been created with about a week's worth of Los Angeles smog. I kid you not.

During our visit I lamented privately that I was somewhat envious of her output and her life of ongoing creative expression. She encouraged me to re-connect with my roots in the arts and not give up.

After more than twenty years in advertising, I have always been grateful at the opportunity to make a living and provide for my family by means of applied creativity. There are, however, other creative disciplines that have value as well. To some extent making art -- painting, drawing, sculpture, etc. -- is therapeutic, and to some extent it is an exploration of possibilities. While I am reluctant to call our visit "the" trigger event to push me back toward a more earnest commitment to the fine arts, it was certainly one such prod.

This past week I have been in the process of framing drawings and paintings, preparing work for a first show, at The Venue in Duluth's West End. It's an adventure, and if you are in the vicinity I invite you to partake of it. I will keep you posted of the details.

Of Kim Abeles, her newest adventure will be a show in China. I'm confident it will be a thought provoking experience for anyone who takes it in.

Reflections on a Phenomenon

I recently watched the movie Phenomenon again. For those who haven't seen it, John Travolta plays George, the central character, a somewhat slow-witted nice guy who has a strange experience that awakens his consciousness and begins to hyperactivate his mind. In short, he becomes a phenomenon.

The movie does a wonderful job of presenting George's struggle as he seeks to understand what is happening to him. His friends, however, are equally befuddled and the unanswered questions that arise from their own insecurities cause misunderstanding, pain and rejection. It's almost as scary to know a phenomenon as to be one.

In my opinion it was a good story well told. Like all good stories, it unearthed regions of my own soul, areas I have mined before and will mine again because I believe their are still some precious stones to uncover there.

It is a life theme to which I often return. Are we not each a phenomenon in our own way? What is the meaning of my life? What are my unique gifts? Where has my power come from from? And how much of it is unused, undeveloped, unactivated.

We use so little of our strength, our psychic powers, our capabilities. We choose, instead, to live in a dark, dull, ill-lit corridor called 'life', a cramped hallway with narrow walls, yellowed, peeling wallpaper, moldy and stifling. Windowless and without wind. No unpredictable weather. And we wonder why it bores us, why we've lost our passion.

John Updike made the observation that there are Four Life Forces: Love, Habit, Time and Boredom. Love and Habit are powerful, giving short term energy and stability to our lives. Time has a more long term grinding influence. But Boredom, the great leveller, is a prison that captures us subtly. When boredom becomes a habit, life passes us by.

For you, may it never be so.