What is Boredom? Is it a feeling, a chance, a distraction? It is all those, and so much more.
When you are bored, you have nothing to do. This is Boredom's first meaning, as an absence. An absence of things to do. Most people only this meaning, but there is so much more to it. Boredom is not only an absence of things, but a thing itself. This is Boredom's second meaning. It is a time that occurs after one thing is ended and another begins. It is a recurring thing, something marked by spaces on your calender. It is a difference between doing something and not doing anything.
Most people think of Boredom as something bad. It's connatation is usually negative, but is being bored truly bad? No, being bored is what influences people. Boredom is a motivation. It causes geniuses to think, architects to build, and painters to create. Where would we be if the Wright brothers were busy painting the house instead of being bored and causing them to think and dream? Or if Henry Ford was growing a garden? We would be taking days and wasting time just to get across the state. Boredom provides people with time to think, wonder, and create with their minds and motivates them to put their ideas to work.
However, sometimes Boredom can be bad, but not the way people think of it. Most people see Boredom as a symbol of laziness or slack. No, that is not why Boredom is bad. Boredom is bad because of it's motivation, ironically. Along with being creative, it can also be destructive, and not only to the one person but to many others, also. Boredom can drive a man crazy, to the point where he destroys himself. Or it can drive a man to do something dangerous and even deadly, just to take up time.
So in all, Boredom is much more than what was thought. Boredom is way more than a feeling, it is a time, a creative and destructive motivation, and an absence.
1 comment:
I agree that boredom can spark creativity. Example: About a year ago I was home alone because Travis was a drill and he had the car with him. It was a whole weekend of nothing to do. I started looking at this blank wall in my living room and decided that it needed a tree. Yes a tree. So I went outside and found branch for the trunk and went to the craft store for some paper and leaves and before you know it I have a 7 foot tall tree in the LR. It was a great conversation piece and people loved it. I was pretty proud of it too.
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