Being bored is good for children and adults …
according to recent research referenced by the World Economic Forum. Canadian studies have suggested that the more “screen time” options children had the less creative they became.
Western society is obsessed with the need for constant noise and activity. Smartphones contribute significantly to the endless stream of attention seeking distractions which fill our every waking moment. Music, emails, news and games keep us from both boredom and imagination. There is little time to dream and less need to create as we depend on other people’s thoughts and ideas to stimulate and amuse us.
Perhaps, the saying, “I’m so busy I can’t even hear myself think” is closer to the truth than we realise.
So, what are the alternatives?
Photography has been a useful “waste of time” that has caused me to pause and consider through new eyes the things around me.
The psalms use a word “selah” which translated from the Hebrew means, “pause calmly and think about that”.
One of my favourite thoughts from the Psalms is:
“Be still and know that I am God”. (Psalm 46:10)
What about you?
Are you comfortable with silence and inactivity or does it unsettle you?