As a child, my dad always told me “boredom is the birth of creativity.” I hated that. As any child does, I hated being bored. I constantly needed to be kept busy or otherwise entertained. Nothing felt worse than sitting around having nothing to do. But if I ever told my dad I was bored, he would always give me the same response.
“Go be creative,” he’d tell me. “Being bored is good for the soul.”
And I would be infuriated. It was the least helpful advice I’d ever received. Or so I thought.
I now find myself longing for the feeling of boredom with some frequency. Of course, I get bored when doing things such as my math homework (sorry Mr. Silliman) or sitting in the waiting room before a doctor’s appointment, but that’s not the type of boredom I miss. I miss the boredom that comes with a day free of responsibilities; the boredom that’s only present when you feel as if you have the ability to do anything you want.
I’m not going to lie and say the feeling of boredom is particularly amazing, but rather it’s good – healthy, even – to be bored. I hate to admit it, but my dad was right. Boredom is good for the soul. In fact it’s pretty damn fantastic.
So, if you’re bored this week, that’s okay! Buy a ticket to the Black Box Theatre’s latest production, “The Watsons” (Thea can tell you more about it on page six), head to your nearest voting location to vote on the issues broken down by Kayle on page 11, or hit up the latest restaurant to be Ali Approved (page 30). And if you’re still bored, I encourage you to pour yourself a cup of tea, sit by the fire, and enjoy this most recent issue of Arlingtonian (but I won’t judge you if you don’t).
