REsources for Living

Quest Monthly Magazine

Lynn has very good ideas in general, but particularly when it comes to having fun. Her list of boring things to do seems perfect for a person who is about to retire from a busy, inspiring job, doesn’t it? —LD

I expect you know the feeling—both droopy and restless. You start pacing around the house, fidgeting with things, maybe look in the refrigerator, and then out it comes: “Mom, I’m bored!”

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, July and August tend to be the months when things slow down. School is probably out, and the long stretch of free time that you’ve looked forward to is finally upon you. But the problem is that it can be hard to know what to do with your free time. You get used to running a mile a minute. During most of the year you might feel like there’s always someone telling you what you need to do next: Stop daydreaming! Pay attention! Can you focus, please? Stop messing around!

But vacation is the time for messing around and daydreaming, for letting your attention range far and wide. It’s the time for taking it easy and lounging about—or for running and riding bikes and swimming. It’s the time when all the possibilities seem to open up, so that you never know what might happen.

But what do you do with not knowing what’s going to happen? How do you handle open space and open time? What do you do when there isn’t anything to do? What if there’s no school and your friends are out of town and your parents have told you to turn off the TV or the computer or the Xbox or whatever? What do you do when you’re bored?

Believe it or not, there’s a lot to be said for being bored. Bodies need time to rest and stretch. Minds need time to wander. Our spirits need time to get back in rhythm with nature. Boredom might just be a sign that you’re having to get used to a different pace of life, which could be just what your mind, body and spirit need.

Besides, being bored might be the best way to move into something new. If you hate being bored, maybe it’s a message from yourself to change things up a bit, to get out of your usual ways of thinking and acting and try something different.

Next time you feel bored, try brainstorming a list of things you could imagine doing. They don’t necessarily have to be things you want to do, or things that it would be possible to do. You could even start your list with: “Lie around and be bored. Sit around and be bored. Stand around and be bored.” But if you keep writing everything that comes to mind, without worrying about whether you’re writing down good ideas or bad ones, then sooner or later you’re bound to come up with an idea that you like.

Just to help you get started with your list, here’s my brainstorm of some slow-paced, boring things that you might enjoy doing this summer:

Plant some plants. Watch for signs of growth. Take time to water and weed and look forward to vegetables or flowers. Enjoy putting your work into something that you have to imagine for a long time before you actually see results.

Lie back and watch the clouds. Imagine what shapes they look like. Wait for them to change. At night you can lie back and watch the stars. They change really slowly!

Pet a cat. Imagine what life would be like if you spent about 18 hours a day sleeping. Boring for sure, but don’t most cats look happy?

Climb a tree. Then just sit up there. See the world from a different point of view. Look up through the branches and listen to the sounds of leaves moving in the breeze.

Look—and listen—for birds. Get a field guide book, or try an on-line field guide, that will help you identify what kinds of birds live near you. Learn their names and what they look like. After all, these are your neighbors. Keep a list of the different birds you’ve seen.

Find a secret hiding place. Bring in treasures to make it your very own. Just hang out in your own secret spot—but let a grown-up know that you’ll be hiding out, so that they don’t worry when they can’t find you!

Keep a journal. When you first wake up in the morning, try to remember your dreams. Then write them down, and see if your dreams are speaking to you. Or write down your daydreams or a poem or a picture or what you did that day or your observations of the world around you. If you don’t care for writing, see if you can use a tape recorder to hold your thoughts and dreams.

Balance on one foot. Then try it with your eyes closed. Then try balancing different ways, like with a foot held out in front of you. See if it’s easier with your arms above your head or out to your sides or just hanging down.

Look at rocks. See how many different colors you can find. Check for really tiny ones as well as big ones. Look for patterns, like spots or stripes. Look for heart-shaped rocks or other particular shapes. Start a collection.

Ask for permission to pick flowers—then press them. Put your flowers between sheets of waxed paper inside a big, heavy book like a dictionary. Put another heavy book on top. Then leave them there for several days. When they have dried, use them to make cards or artwork by gluing them to paper and decorating around them.

OK, there’s my list of ten slow-moving things to do when you’re bored. I’m sure you can come up with a lot more. Whatever you’re up to, I hope those of you in the Northern Hemisphere have a nice, relaxed—dare I say it—boring summer.