Meaningful Returns

Boredom is not inherently evil, despite the fact that the word itself was not allowed to be spoken in the Korver household when I was a kid. Boredom has the potential to unlock creativity and innovation, and is a function of living in a wealthy society which has made possible the idea that there are times when you have nothing you’re required to be doing.

The problem is that we have forgotten how to be bored in a creative sort of way, in large part because whenever we find ourselves in times when nothing is required of us, we simply pull out the ol’ phone and begin doing literally nothing. It’s as if we sense that boredom might require creativity, which makes us fearful, which makes us look at pictures over and over again on Instagram.

And forgetting how to be bored often leads us to make all kinds of dumb money decisions. We get bored with cars, clothes, houses, jobs, foods, and–worst of all–people, and instead of using our brains and hearts and resources, getting creative about how we might turn that boredom into contentment and excitement, we use our only our resources to self-medicate until the next wave of boredom kicks in.

This is ludicrous. Let’s do better.