Being bored & alone is the mother of creativity

Now the SEO gods wouldn’t suggest that I make the title of this blog any longer, but I’ll lengthen it now in the space where I can…

‘Being bored & alone is the mother of creativity, inspiration, of knowing ourselves, and of true, lasting contentment.’

But I hear you say, “That’s quite a claim for something that sounds so dreadful and unappealing Lyndsay.” It’s likely that being bored & alone brings up images and feelings of sadness, despondency, loneliness for you…

It kind of sounds like this bored & alone person could, perhaps, be doing something wrong in their life. And certainly, it doesn’t sound like they are a vibrant, fulfilled, and creative being.

But they could be just that. And the truth is, if we invite and embrace the idea and the act of letting ourselves be bored, and alone more often, things might just change for us in a surprisingly profound and productive way. Let me explain…

Firstly, let’s ask that question that comes up from time to time: Why do we get those great ideas in the shower, or while we’re doing the dishes, or on a walk to the compost. Or taking our garbage to the trash bins?

It’s not just because we’re focused on a repetitive action that we don’t really have to use our more thoughtful or problem solving brain on.

I think it’s because often in those little pockets of simple solitude, we’re left on our own, with nothing of interest to fixate on. To feel comfortably alone in the world without a tether can be like a little lunch break for our mind. A little space where we have time to calmly contemplate with nothing else really pestering us for our attention –be it internal or external. It’s a mental deep breath…

And when we’re on our own, and on the move, we don’t have the option to offer something banal or vacant (ahem… social media, random scrolling, etc) to our poor overtaxed brain. So we let our mind sing a few notes of its own choosing. And in that small spot, we gently and easily just think to ourselves, running our thoughts around and through our heads, dancing –disconnected from others, and from any particular form of outward entertainment.

Because when we aren’t performing or consuming, magic ideas can come to us…

When we unabashedly just ‘are’ our mind and thoughts can finally go where they damn well feel like it. No constraints, no impediments. And after a day, or a week being told what to think and when to think it, our thoughts deserve a little free space. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, or really much of anything –but it is.

We are so commonly disconnected from ourselves, and from how we actually feel. So the poetry of our own undirected feelings can feel foreign, and uncomfortable. But just that little piece of mental freedom, and personal autonomy; they are absolute gold. For us to offer it to ourselves is kindness. And it’s where inspiration lives.

Boredom has somehow become the enemy of our time. And that, as such, is an absolute detriment to the creativity and wellbeing of our world today.

What’s with all the remakes and rehashes of old movies, series’ and such? Why aren’t there new ideas being born? Because we are fighting a crusade against our rightful, and glorious boredom every single day. We’ve got phones and gadgets to pull out at the first inkling of any discomfort or uncertainty. And so we never get a chance to mull the world, and our place in it, over.

There is nothing wrong with just letting our mind be unsure, or bored. We can be unsure about the next step to take, we can exist within that uncertainty. And perhaps we’ll get an idea if we do just sit there. We can even have a poke around while we’re there. “Hmmm, this is uncertainty, and boredom… I see there is a rock over there. Could be something interesting behind it. Might as well explore.”

If we invite boredom in, it has a way of being fizzled out quite quickly by our naturally busy and curious little minds.

It’s not the case that we’ll become perpetually despondent and sad unless we satiate ourselves at every moment with something artificial and and superficial. “Awe I’m bored, I look at tiktok, or scroll through my phone, or see what’s in the fridge… Or cupboard…” We don’t need to ‘deal with’ our boredom.

It is a gift, as yet unopened. With the excitement and uncertainty of any good present. But we throw it away before we even take the effort to unwrap it. We’ve become petulant little babies. We just want to be entertained… now.

And so, we don’t get a chance to go on the walk, to look at the odd toadstools with curiosity and delight (I mean the toadstools of our mind too lol) Everything is in service of social media, and instant entertainment. And so ourselves, our mental health and the relationship that we can hone with the person we are becomes fragmented, and mysterious to us. We suffer for this. But there is another way. Welcome a taste of solitude and uncertainty…

What matters to us? What are we curious about? And what new and wonderful passions will show themselves to us if we allow that spec of space to be a little bored & alone from time to time?

Just because we are adults, it doesn’t mean that we no longer have an innate curiosity and delight for the abundance of our life. It more likely just means that we have had more years of chronically swatting away our curiosity and inspiration with the overconsumption of our phone, Youtube, or more snacks than we might need. We’ve spooked the gentle marvel within us. And so it’s understandably retreated.

So, what can we do to tame this beautiful beast of wonder again? Feed it. Be gentle with it. And let it dance and play. Be boldly bored & alone. Take yourself on a walk through nature, without your phone. Look around. Be curious. Be lonely, and step towards the thoughts that come up.

We don’t get boring or uninspired as we get older, we become rigid, and then we grow afraid of the uncertainty that grows.

So, make friends with that lost soul of creativity by letting your mind wander and search. Let yourself be board, and see what comes up for you. Don’t be afraid to try something new, to wish, to imagine. And to wander aimlessly from time to time 🙂

Thank you so much for listening to my thoughts this week,

It’s nice to be lost together,

Until next week, subscribe to my newsletter,

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-Lyndsay