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"The power of boredom - Why Boredom is Essential to Creating a Meaningful Life"

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I read this book after becoming conscious of the fact that the root cause of most of my self-destructive behaviors was boredom. I might come back later to edit these notes or add more to it. I still haven't added into these notes the benefits of embracing boredom, which are wondefully described in the book. These notes are helpful to contemplate so you can become aware of the subtly different ways that boredom can arise. In the opening of each chapter in the book there are also many nice little quotes that are good for contemplation.

"The power of boredom - Why Boredom is Essential to Creating a Meaningful Life" by Mark A. Hawkins

What is boredom?

  • Boredom is the lack of any stimuli (internal or external) that is engaging
  • Boredom is the space that allows us to see through all the distractions of our modern busy lives and into the true nature of our existence (an empty space full of potential)
  • Boredom is life’s workspace. A place and time when we can examine our lives
  • Boredom is a survival instinct that tells us to keep working towards improving ourselves, according to societal norms and expectations
  • Boredom is a dark basement. It can be scary when you open the door and a bunch of creepy things can be in there, but deep down there’s a treasure
  • Boredom is the fear of the self. The self that doesn’t live up to expectations
  • Boredom is a spiritual practice
  • Boredom is meditation
  • Boredom is the absence of diversion
  • Boredom is the discomfort of restlessness
    • As soon as you feel a twinge of restlessness, stop and do nothing
  • Boredom is the mother of the creative act
  • Boredom is a never-ending spiral of personal and philosophical discoveries that can be used to create a great life

Types of boredom

  • Situational boredom: mild form of boredom when we are doing an activity that we don’t really feel like doing (like sitting in a boring class or doing repetitive work)
  • “Full” boredom: felt when we get tired of doing a particular activity. This type of boredom is eliminated by moving on to another activity that engages us.
  • “Empty” boredom: felt when we’re doing nothing (waiting to go to a party, waiting for a game to start on TV, waiting at the dentist’s office)
  • Intense “empty” boredom: when there’s nothing to do in a long period of time (like weekends when there’s nothing to do, lazy Sundays)
  • Existential boredom: very common in our society. It is bubbling under the surface of all our activity
    • “Full” existential boredom: when we are busy with our lives, but there is very little that interests us or engages us about it (aka. going through the motions of life, being on a hamster wheel, there being no point to any action, withdrawal of meaning from everything in our lives in a negative way)
    • “Empty” existential boredom: the most painful kind. Linked to depression, anxiety and destructive behaviors. Felt a lot in retirement.
      • Sunday neurosis: the free time that we have worked so hard all week for becomes too painful. Here, we actually want so badly to go back to work because it will distract us from the nagging feeling that something is missing.

Society's view on boredom

  • “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop”
  • Boredom can be associated with laziness, lack of direction and even criminality

Socially acceptable addictions (escape from boredom)

Society can even reward you for these addictions, among others:

  • Shopping
  • Workaholism
  • Addiction to exercise
  • Compulsively filling our time with people
  • Compulsive travel (wanderlust)
  • Engagement in risky behaviors (bungee jumping, cliff diving, sky diving)
  • Creation of drama
  • Going on ideological “crusades” – defending a cause

Limiting belief boredom reveals to us

  • Happiness is controlled by external events (The discomfort reveals how much we’ve been relying on external events for our happiness)
  • The world is a competitive place (It can also be a creative place)
  • Every moment of life should be pleasurable
  • Also some other personal limiting beliefs which are specific to what societal ideals (or personal ideals) affect us more strongly personally

Filling space vs. necessary activities for survival

  • Filling space:
    • Watching TV
    • Shopping
    • Surfing the net
    • Playing video games
    • Having a couple drinks
    • Reading
    • Cleaning the room when it doesn’t have to be cleaned, etc.
  • Needed for survival in the modern world:
    • Going to work
    • School
    • Making food
    • Having shelter
    • Pursuing a goal, etc.

Boredom vs mindfulness

  • Mindfulness: increase awareness of our avoidance of the now, bringing mind back to present moment
  • Boredom: complete lack of engagement, a complete lack of meaning. Nowadays we must make a conscious effort to allow moments of boredom in our lives

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