Finding Pleasure in Boredom
It's been a while since I blogged from a cafe in a mall. Today, I decided not to spend time in my library but loiter at my neighbourhood mall instead. Here I am typing these lines, feeling relaxed and surprisingly fresh, despite having less than 5 hours sleep everyday for the past weeks.
I'm behind in many of my regular activities like reading, even though I still read daily, the volume is less. I haven't been watching any TV series, limiting myself to short video clips from Youtube.
My audiobook listening time has increased though, because I walk every morning in the park, enjoying the crisp morning air and the dewy freshness of grass on the ground. I'm happy that there's enough content on my phone to last me for years. I also have sufficient interests in different subjects to pursue, which hopefully I would not lose enthusiasm for.
Boredom has never been my problem because I find almost everything interesting. Every subject is a rabbit hole which I could spend an entire lifetime exploring. This non-discerning taste in reading also extends to my choice of food. This makes mealtime very easy wherever I am in the world. As long as I'm sufficiently hungry, all food tastes great.
Often I choose a place to eat, not because of its food but because it is conducive for reading. Meal-times are the best time to read, if you happen to be eating alone. The mind needs feeding as much as the stomach and it's a joy to be able to feed both at the same time.
Malaysians general take a lot of pride in their local cuisine. I enjoy them greatly but I don't crave for them. Food is great but it is not the greatest pleasure in life. I take greater pleasure in not being attached to pleasure. Enjoy all sensory delights when they present themselves but do not cling to them. Let them go, so that they may come back again, with equal delight. That has always been my attitude towards the pleasures of the senses.
Pleasures of the mind and body can be addictive. Always receive them with a sense of gratitude. When they are bestowed upon us, treat them as a bonus but when they are absent, it is not such a big deal. A mind deprived of pleasurable content inevitably feels bored. I've often wondered how I would cope, if say, I were to be put in solitary confinement without any reading materials. Perhaps if such an 'opportunity' arises, I could treat it as a meditation retreat.
Meditation can be interesting if you are curious about the works of the mind. Thoughts will always arise spontaneously. It's like going sight-seeing. You just wait and some content would show up and you observe and say to yourself: interesting. And then another thought arises. Interesting. One can never feel bored because thoughts keep on arising. Watch the endless parade of thoughts. If they cease after a while, that's all well and good--you have achieved some level of meditative bliss.
If you watch these self-generated thought content long enough, you'll realise that they are just white noise. The natural pattern recognition mechanism of the mind sees shapes and events and associations, resulting in thoughts, which then trigger emotional responses in the body.
The next time that you are bored, look at it as a blessing in disguise. Boredom could be the key to the secrets of your mind. Observe the spontaneous content that arises. You'll learn a lot about yourself.
