I often have a lot I’d like to write about - not necessarily because I have something incredibly unique to offer, but often to just get my thoughts on to paper - often physical paper, and make sense of them. So, I’m restarting this series where I just relay some thoughts that go through my head from time to time. Weekly, maybe? Time will tell.

Seeking Out Boredom

A great deal has been made about the distractive nature of our smartphones and social media, and a common refrain through all this is centered around the fact that we are losing our ability to simply be bored. I know I am. There is always such an urge to just reach the phone and scroll something or the other. The husband and I had a long conversation on this recently, and a very crucial point he made was that - it didn’t have to be something scrollable. It could just be responding to WhatsApp messages or looking at what SMS’es the bank had sent. That really stuck - he had painstakingly removed most scrollable apps from his phone, Instagram being the main one. It’s just a source of potential, potential dopamine. An apt analogy might be being banned from the big stakes poker games at a casino, but still entering the play those machines where you just pull a lever and hope that the three jokers come in a row.

Anyway, my complaints aside, I want to focus on how I can seek out the boredom. I don’t mean it in an abstract sense. The question I’m asking myself through this exercise is: How can I reduce the shallow external stimuli I depend on, and double down on deep external and internal stimuli.

So, I’m hoping to check back soon on my attempts to seek out boredom, and how that’s going.

Call your Friends

The other important thing I want to stress, is to remind you to call your friends! A great norm has set upon us, a norm I have very much participated in for the longest time where, when you want to speak to a friend, you first drop a text going, “Hey, how’s it going? Up to speaking {soon/today/this week}?” This is a norm that has been very much solidified by the COVID19 pandemic and the move from offline to online.

Of course, perhaps not everyone can and should call everyone. But your good friends? Perhaps you should call them.