Boredom

I found a 3 year old draft I had not publish, so I thought I'd go ahead and do that now. 

Boredom. 
There are so many "cures" for it these days.  Every minute of every day seems to need filling up.

"Mom, I'm bored!"  We all said it as kids. It's easy to point a finger at them and say, "If you can't find something to do, you can clean the bathroom."  To which they answer, "Can I watch a movie?" or "Can I have a few extra minutes on my game?"

I do not hear "I'm bored," from my kids nearly as often as I said it as a child.  There is always some form of amusement to be had, even around here.

I recently realized just how big a motivating factor boredom can be.  I gave up playing a silly little time filler as a Christmas gift to my family.  Yes, it was Candy Crush.  I wasn't addicted or anything.  I just played it while waiting for the toaster to ding, or for the water to boil, or for the laundry to get done, or between classes, or running here or there, or you know, those times when there was a few minutes, but not enough time to start a big project, or to think really hard about important matters.  It sucked up those boring minutes of waiting.

When it was gone, I was shocked at just how much of a role boredom played in my life.  I found myself bored enough to go looking for a chore to do.  The dishes get loaded a lot more often.  Creative projects got started.  I read for those little minutes.  My mind began to search for answers to questions,  when it found them it began searching for more questions to find the answers to.

I thought, "My goodness, with all of the information available to us today, what would happen if the human race as a whole sat around and thought about things like they used to do around a fire or a harpsichord."  My mind is exploding with possibilities.

I am so thankful that previous generations worked so hard to provide the leisure that we have today.  Most of our business is self induced, not actual survival to find food or shelter, or protective clothing.  We don't have a "do it or die" crisis lifestyle.  How tragic that for the most part I waste it.

Right a book, paint a masterpiece, create culture, form a hypothesis, test it, build, grow, learn a new skill, master an old one... do something for society, do something