Sunday, May 2, 2010

Bored Games

Are you one of those people who, when you're bored, you do something productive?

I am definitely not.

When I am bored, even though I detest the feeling of being bored, for some reason I let it win. When I was younger and complained about being bored, my mom would tell me to take a nap. I would solemnly refuse her suggestion, feeling that the action of sleep was succumbing to the boredom, letting the boredom wave its gloating power of winning over me. Sleep, to me, was the only thing more boring than being bored in itself.

So I ask myself now, as an adult (sometimes I use this term loosely), isn't just being bored letting the boredom win? By refusing to do anything else to pass the time? Instead I wait for the boredom to pass, and complain to the lucky people nearby while I wait.

I guess my logic is that doing productive things isn't always boring, but when you're bored to begin with, then filing your taxes, vacuuming, emailing colleagues, etc. become activities that make you feel like you've joined the ranks of boring and bored people everywhere. I won't lie, I can enjoy vacuuming, filing papers, corresponding via email. It's just that when I'm forced to do things because I have no other option and I'm bored, then I feel like if I choose to do them then I am becoming a boring person in doing so. And that right there may be one of my biggest fears, as a person, as a writer, as a woman who's still single and needs to keep herself interesting until she lands a man.

I'm afraid I may be boring you right now, writing about this. How many times have I dropped a variation of the word "bored" in the last three paragraphs (by the way, if you stop to count them, I will diagnose you as bored yourself)?

It has also just occurred to me, in the same way that it occurred to me this post might be boring, that I have just accomplished something productive whilst being bored: writing my daily post. Hmm. Didn't see that one coming.

So does that make me boring? Or bored? Did the boredom win? Where did we land in this discussion? People, now is your opportunity to speak.*

*Except you, Nick. You can hold your tongue since we already know you're going to declare me to be boring. Rude.

2 comments:

  1. Mr. Rico, my music appreciation teacher in High School. (you'd love him, he wore a brightly colored different bowtie everyday that matched his watch band. he also hid notebooks inside his bottomdown shirt that would fall out sometimes during class.) anyways. he said was of the school of thought: are you bored? YOU'RE boring!!, which he proclaimed often.

    second, really? does landing a man give you permission to become less interesting?!?!

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  2. When I get bored, I start reading blogs. Vastly more entertaining than studying, which I should be doing because finals are coming up.

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