Ampersand Answers: Bored Now

“You need to let the little things that would
ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.

Andy Warhol
MEInk 2.7.26 

The Question: 

How can I get over being bored? 

&mpersand Answers: 

Boredom is a fascinating problem—mostly because it’s never really about what’s happening on the outside of a person, but what’s happening on the inside. 

Fans of Buffy will relate to Willow’s refrain: “Bored now,” and therein lies a clue to the resolution of boredom.  

Usually, it means you have stepped away from what’s around you. Yep, that’s right. You’ve distanced yourself. 

Now, we do that for all sorts of reasons, some of them good, some not-so-good.  

If you’re at a celebratory event, and your partner just left you, you distance yourself from the now so as not to taint the celebration. That’s kindness.  

If you’re angry at your dinner companion, and not ’fessing up, you distance yourself, perhaps, to give yourself a chance to calm down. That’s self-care. 

If something bad happened in your experience, and you’re not ready to talk about it, you distance yourself to buy some time. That can be kindness and self-care. 

Point being, distancing yourself isn’t necessarily bad, but if your distancing is actually withholding in disguise, that’s when boredom can grab you. 

As Andy Warhol suggests, the solution is simple: Get interested—in something. A crocus growing out of snow. A story. A book. A letter. A plant. An animal. Anything. Let your focus narrow in on something in your immediate environment, and bring curiosity to it. 

Boredom will fly away so fast that you won’t even see it go.