Boredom! The forgotten pleasure.
Boredom! The forgotten pleasure.
Carla brought up the topic of the rarity of 'boredom' in our life, particularly since we each have our own 'tablets'. I really liked the idea, she is right. I have found myself constantly engaged with one or another form of an electronic device, if not the screens at my desk, then certainly my tablet or the iPhone screen.
The other night, it crossed our minds that with all the time we (and many other) spend on our smart phones and tablets, we have lost the ability to actually 'feel boredom'. Yes, 'boredom', any second or minute when we could feel bored (even in the loo), we---excuse me, let me say I---instantly grab one of these devices and 'kill the boredom off', right there, as if a second "unused" would be a great loss in my life (i.e., the minute without reading/watching/absorbing some information). But what did I/we used to do without today's iPhones and iPads? Emails were checked only when logging in to our computer or laptop, perhaps only a few times per day, and mobiles were used only for speaking (mostly) rarely.
I remember boredom could be painful: boring. But, it was also a source of inspiration and creativity, time to dream and get creative; do not you agree boredom can bring with it heaps of creativity?! While just sipping a tea or sitting there, mindless sometimes, are not much more precious than those 5, 10, or 30 minutes surfing the web, reading news, checking latest whatever, or (worst of all) watching YouTube, Netflix, or mind you, Ted Talks!?
Now, here is the question, where to waste my time: on my iPad, or staring bored out of the window for a moment or two or even half an hour? And, do I really need to be able to instantly read my emails on my iPhone?
I need to do something about what these devices are doing to my precious boredom. Of course, these devices are part of my life. But maybe, I can develop some sort of rule around smart electronic. As cool as they may be!
- write more letters by hand!
- read more real books!
- go out more without an smartphone!
Some solution she suggested me was:
First, they need a space in the house where they are used (commercial trick, they are so portable we want to take them everywhere with us!, she said... do not) And, further she stated that this place should certainly be out of the bedroom. Second, get a traditional alarm clock. Third, buy more stuff in real shops, no more online shopping. Fourth, turn off email notifications when you are out of office (how can I do that? I said to myself !!!!) Fifth, how about getting rid of iPad altogether? Hmmm... Tempting.
I did not want to make her crazy by reminding her of all these wearable technologies that are happening right now...
I bet someday we will say to ourselves, what about seeing with our eyes, just seeing, no annotation, no augmentation, just see... gosh, at least we can see using our bare eyes! Or, let's think, just think, not with this human brain interface thingyyyy....
Time to play! ... on the iPad...
