The Phenomenon of Boredom

The labeling of a huge part of human experience as boring is a relatively new phenomenon. The concept of boredom -- a sense of emptiness and a lack of stimulation -- didn't even exist until the nineteenth century. Before that, it was used only in the context of a person who spoke too long or rambled off the topic: "Oh, she's such a bore!" Now it is a state of being that is a fate worse than death.

Psychologists say that the problem we think is "out there" -- in the book, movie, job, relationship -- is actually in us. Boredom, they say, is created by an inability to delay gratification and a low tolerance for frustration, both of which have serious implications for our success in life and in love.

Any time we proclaim something boring, what we really are saying is that we don't have patience for it. Rather than looking at ourselves for the source of the problem -- and therefore the solution -- we look at whatever is provoking the feeling and label that the problem.

A lot of human experience can be considered boring. There are huge stretches of parenting, in relationships, in work, where "nothing" is happening, or at least nothing obvious. We can consider those moments boring and seek to alleviate that boredom with any distraction available. Or we can see such occasions as opportunities to tap into our patience and look more deeply.

Try it yourself. Go on a fast for a week in which you refuse to consider any experience boring. When your mind begins to use that label -- in traffic, say, or on hold -- challenge yourself to find something of interest in what is going on, either in yourself or the world around you. How does that change your experience?

With attention, nothing is boring, even the most routine tasks. If you tune in to how the warm soapy water feels as you wash the pots and pans, how does that change the experience for you? Or weeding the garden, how does it feel to bend and stretch in the sunlight? What *is* the name of that gray bird with the crested head that suddenly appeared? This level of experiencing life isn’t one that we tune in to, but it is one that can bear many riches of wonder at the very fact of being alive in this amazing world.

The Phenomenon of Boredom
--by MJ Ryan
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"Any time we proclaim something boring, what we really are saying is that we don't have patience for it. Rather than looking at ourselves for the source of the problem -- and therefore the solution -- we look at whatever is provoking the feeling and label that the problem." These few phrases blew me away. I have a choice...a choice to choose how I will react in what ever situation may come my way. I could be in the deepest darkest of pits and still choose how my heart and mind will feel in that moment...Happiness? Sadness? Anger? Hate? Love? Joy?....It's my choice. Perhaps happiness comes from choosing the fix the things that can be fixed (i.e. my own feelings) and not dwell on the things that cannot be fixed...The solution to all my problems lies within myself and God and it is my choice whether or not to except His help or not..........

Ka Po’e o Ka Malamalama

This article was an answer to my prayers....


Ka Po’e o Ka Malamalama

In a world filled with technological advances
we are starved for wisdom
Our quiet knowing is obliterated
by the frantic stress of a modern world.
Perhaps one day soon we will conclude
that faster is not always better,
and more is never enough.
At the dawn of a new millennium,
it would be wise to re-write the script.
Let us consider giving greater value to the sacredness of
our everyday lives,
bathed in stillness long enough to remember when we were
Ka Po’e o ka Malamalama
How different our circumstances would be if we
remembered that as
one race, divinely human,
we were born for a higher destiny.
Like ancient mariners who charted their canoes into
unknown seas,
we are now the voyagers.
As it was with our ancestors, our resources as we know
them on this vessel called Earth are finite,
making our reliance upon one another crucial.
It is time we cast light into the dark places called fear,
a fear which separates us by color, culture, and economies.
Call it what you will prejudice, hatred, anger, judgment,
self-inflicted pain.
it is borne of the same bitter, diseased fruit, which serves no one.
Into this yet unwritten chapter entitled “The 21st Century”
upon pages crisp with promise, we, the authors of its
beginning,
would be wise to compose an enlightened legacy for
those yet to be,
a composition of wisdom and courage, of humility and
forgiveness;
a place where success is not measured by wealth and
power
but by compassionate concern for others,
and where the value of youthfulness gives way to the
wisdom of age.
Like the stars which guided our forefathers into vast new
frontiers,
this literary endowment would serve to illumine
the path for future generations.
Imbued with our love and sealed with aloha, this magnum
opus
would reveal our return to our sacred birthright,
Ka Po’e o ka Malamalama,
The people of the Light

Dr. Elizabeth Kapu’uwailani Lindsey Buyers: President, LLB Productions