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It's the first Monday of 2021, so may I recommend some good old fashioned daydreaming? We love to say we are "busy" and then we go on "breaks", which we post about endlessly, before we resume our "busy AF" lives. But we are not just "productive" economic units. THREAD
Boredom is not a punishment, boredom is a revolution.
Experts on how boredom can be a great source of creativity and we should actively allow ourselves to put away our smartphones and daydream instead. Something I wrote for @IndianExpress yesterday: https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/boredom-creativity-adventures-7129924/
Experts on how boredom can be a great source of creativity and we should actively allow ourselves to put away our smartphones and daydream instead. Something I wrote for @IndianExpress yesterday: https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/boredom-creativity-adventures-7129924/
I greatly recommend Peter Toohey's Boredom: A Lively History. If you cannot afford the book, the writer has an interesting website with several pop culture and fine art references to boredom. It includes, hilariously, Britney Spears' Hit Me Baby! http://www.petertoohey.ca/boredom-.html
Dr John Eastwood of @BoredomLab says: Boredom tells us we are stagnating; that we are not using our cognitive abilities and expressing ourselves in the world in our own unique ways…it tells us we need to reclaim our agency.
But what about those who are forced into boring situations, some that stretch for years, with no end in sight? The homeless, the aged, the bedridden, the imprisoned — their options are limited. What about those, say, in a region like Kashmir?
Srinagar-based artist Moonis Ahmad Shah recalls the times in Kashmir where there were long durations of curfews enforced on the people. When people are forced into such exceptional situations, they have to rethink their every day, reimagine their lives.
I also recommend this wonderful post from @brainpickings on why boredom is among the best things that can happen to us. https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/06/18/boredom-a-lively-history/
h/t @JairajSinghR who lead me to this pretty wonderful essay by Hanif Kureishi https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/opinion/sunday/the-art-of-distraction.html
Lastly, please listen to this essay by @oliverburkeman who reiterates that there is nothing quite as purposeless as time management. He quotes Nietzsche: Haste is universal because everyone is in flight from himself. https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/dec/17/from-the-archive-why-time-management-is-ruining-our-lives-
Add idling to your daily “chores”. Start today!
If you are curious about the paintings above, head to more info here: https://byronsmuse.wordpress.com/2017/04/10/ode-to-indolence-dolce-far-niente-sweet-doing-nothing/
