On being bored

Every now and then, because of my wife's job, I found myself seating in a coffee for what nowadays could be considered long periods of time—that is to say, two hours, or 3, tops.

Today is one of those days, but what makes particularly interesting is that I didn't have time to prepare. I didn't have the chance to charge my Chromebook tablet before leaving, so I only brought my Kindle, my phone and earbuds. I started with some browsing and socials before my cold brew arrived. Once the caffeine source was here, I thought it would be a good idea to focus on reading. Needless to say, easier said than done, but I gave myself a headstart and chose to read a manga I left paused just a couple of pages after starting. It's a really good Slice of life, well paced and well written, called Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You. Anyways, while reading, I just constantly found myself wanting to write random shit on Twitter—will never call it X out of my own volition—or Threads. What shocked me is that I have not touched those socials for a while because of different reasons. Apart from the fact that I've not much to say that I consider would benefit others in the minimum, there's also the different political/unethical things going on with both platforms.

So after being quiet or unwilling to write in there for a while, what brought this intense desire to do it again? I think it was boredom.

Screens and their numbing effects

One of the incredible benefits I notice constantly of being born in the 90's is that we got to experience the world both before and after the internet. I think I was 12 when I got a laptop and, trust me, having a laptop—or a personal computer for that matter— then was only for the rich. Or the IT engineers who could afford to have a work that require them to always be available, like my Dad.

Point being, I lived 12 years with no internet. My first twelve formative years were spent in the dirt and grass, playing with plastic toys while crafting worlds of cray or imagining worlds beyond what was available in reality. You had the basics: a tree branch became a laser gun, a circle drawn in the dirt became an impenetrable base and a fistful of dirt was a grenade. Our wars were not bellic in nature, but a constant competition of who could outsmart the others, in a quite literal leveled field, by creating the next best thing no one could have thought of. You know, maybe extending your arms in imitation of an aircraft and giving yourself the important characteristic of not being affected by regular soldier weapons. Then it was up to the others to find a way to ground you or destroy you. Or lose.

You can still see that creativity—although more scarcely— in No-iPad-kids. I think it's clear to all of us that a bored kid creates the most weird shit imaginable. But what about adults? What to we create when we're bored? I can only respond for myself when I say that I just don't give myself that opportunity. Ever since the introduction of smartphones, I have used them to numb myself whenever I'm alone. Be it to avoid the socially imposed awkwardness of being alone–really, what's wrong with being by yourself?–or to simply waste some time. Keyword: Waste. I think we're just now more aware that there's people around us–interestingly enough, we noticed the others less now, because we're all numb in front of our screens–and we don't want to be singled out as the one doing nothing, just standing still. But when you leave that feeling behind, you can actually see people doing nothing, actually wasting away. I think that's the interesting part. Seeing people, watching different routines, thinking of wanting to do something someone is doing, having this ideas after looking at someone's clothing on whether they'd look good on your or not, wondering why someone would pick or customize their coffee that way and actually thinking of trying it out... That's what you can start imagining after leaving behind your screen. And, like the butterfly effect, one single thought can lead to action, and that action may change your life.

Less imagining, more changing

I think that's why we find, as adults, the fact of letting our imagination run wild a lot more scary. It's not only the fact of idealizing things, it's also the fact that you now have the ability to make them real–to a certain extend. If you imagine things long enough, you can find yourself even planning for things to become real. Imagine wanting to change directions in your professional career. What's stopping you from doing it? Outside of you personal / economic conditions, realistically, if you plan for it and follow through, you will be able to do it. If you're bored of your current lifestyle, there's actually not much holding you back to go and do something about it. Sure, things take time to change, but things won't change if you don't take the time.

Again, what's scary about being an adult and dreaming is the fact the most things feel within the realm of possibility. However, what I think make things even more scarier is the fucking what if. What if I don't make it? What if I lose money? What if people judge me? What if I fail? What if I go so far that I can almost touch it, only for things to fall apart? Those are the thoughts that break us. It always easier to not do something, keep the status quo and complaint about it.

Now, in my personal experience, whenever I have taken a shot in the dark the only thing that happened is that I learned more. Whether by failing or by succeeding, experience is the only constant result you get. You'll even hear it from anyone with experience on whatever field you're interested: even will all the experience in the world, the only things we're sure about are things someone else already did. If you venture to do something different or new–for you or you field–you'll never know the results until you try.

So let's risk it, let's be bored and let's imagine what could be. Maybe could will become what it is.