Bear Blog Carnival boredom roundup
In February I hosted the Bear Blog Carnival with the theme of boredom and it got 35 submissions! I am very grateful for every participant and a bit taken aback with how much it resonated with so many bloggers. I think I got over 10 submissions in the first couple of days. It has been really interesting reading through all the submissions, and there is definitely both common ground and shared themes, as well as some unique perspectives.
Many writers see boredom as a source for creativity. As a state of mind that allows ideas to emerge. Something valuable. But also something that is challenged as this state of being is becoming a rare thing, and it is of course no coincidence that so many mention the smartphone as the ultimate boredom killer. Steven even provided extensive personal stats on the topic. There is a general agreement that we have lost something by replacing boredom with mindless algorithmic controlled consumption.
There are exceptions, with some mentioning their ADHD as making boredom outright painful or overwhelming. While the majority of submissions could be viewed as a bit of a romanticised and nostalgic view on boredom, for others the thought fills them with tension. And sort of in the middle there are also many of you who try to define what boredom actually is, and that boredom is maybe inherently a negative feeling and it isn’t the same as just being at peace with stilness and finding creative inspiration by doing nothing.
I found it really interesting going through all the posts seeing how a big part of it was actually an attempt to define what the term even means. Some looked at the dictionary or Wikipedia, but boredom is clearly not a concept that is easily defined. One great example of this is from slmt on much meaning can drift when translating the word to another language.
There is an interesting duality with how it is not a praise to say "something was boring”, but “being bored” can be seen as something positive. This is especially challenging with kids, as Karen starts with how kids often complain to their parents that they having nothing to do and what they really mean is to have someone else to entertain them, as Ruth ends with. I can certainly relate to that as the most stressing thing about the weekends are dealing with the my two daughters need for being occupied with something else than screens.
A massive amount of thanks to everyone who participated, and all of you readers, and remember to head over to this month’s Bear Blog Carnival where suliman asks for your favorite meme.