BLANK PRESSURE

April 27th, 2020

For some, creativity arises in all sorts of situations, while bored, while under pressure, while curious.

For a great many people, it requires boredom.  A lot of it.  And many people never get enough boredom to crack open that mental toolbox and get busy with something truly original and creative.

We distract ourselves with shows and reruns, games, podcasts, and zoom hangouts.  We coast through undemanding jobs that succeed only in filling our time, and occupying our minds just enough, to keep boredom at bay despite how unfulfilling the tasks might be.

It’s perhaps the case that many people require so much boredom to crack that creative toolbox because we’ve been trained to be occupied.  Almost no one finds school immensely satisfying and fulfilling.    Our time is simply spoken for, and the education we get fills the space that we might otherwise use to try something interesting.

Quarantine has proven an interesting experiment in boredom.  People are antsy, restless and “going crazy”.  But if this were to continue, would everyone just continue in this state?  Or is there a virtuous breaking point?  A point when the brain says, ok, I’ve had enough, lets do something, anything, this or that, and wait a minute, haven’t we always wanted to do….

If you’re bored, embrace it.  Don’t distract yourself from it with petty entertainment.  

Put that blank pressure on your mind, sit with it, and soon enough the mind will start spinning up things you never dreamed you were capable of doing.