Boredom is very important. Boredom is the origin of any good idea.
– Francesco Clemente
Interview with Charlie Rose August 20, 2008
I have so many ideas and so much creative energy I cannot remember the last time I experienced boredom. On the advice of one of my mentors, I’ve decided this year to focus on a single body of work (Well, I need to complete some other projects first, but believe me, I have completely stowed away some works-in-progress because my tendency is to go off in a million directions!) I’m actually kind of excited to see if I experience some boredom in the studio and I’m wondering where it will lead me.
What do you think? Does boredom help you or hinder you? Please share your thoughts below. I’m curious to know.
Responses to “Inspirational quote-of-the-month – something savory and nutritional for your creative self…”
Patricia Jessee
Could be for some, but I am seldom bored. Taking action on a blank paper or canvas is like being blasted by a strong wave of energy – I’m off and just ride it. IT can be a problem if you are doing a subject matter series-because you get more ideas than you should put on the one piece so you can feel cramped. (controling that is being less narrow in the subject or style.)a quote i like..
“Most people plot and plan themselves into mediocrity, while now and again somebody forgets themself into greatness”. E.Stanley Jones
Thanks, pj
Michele Theberge
Great quote, Patricia! And thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Judy Smith
Love the comments. I suffer frequently from being a human doing instead of a human being which means you’ll frequently find me doing 2 things at once! Not necessarily a good thing all the time. So I meditate. A lot. anytime/anywhere. I always come out of meditation inspired.
Linda Ursin
Boredom hinders me in the way that it makes me gain wait. I have a tendency to go through the cupboards when I get bored. I’m currently trying to replace that with painting, reading, writing and tea. Not always as effective.
admin
I hear you, Linda. I wonder if there is anything to just sitting quietly when bored. To see what is behind that boredom. What feelings, sensations in the body, thoughts come up. I’d be curious to know.
Emily Lipski
Everything is good in moderation. I think this is especially true when it comes to boredom. I am a full time student and also work full time but this holiday break, I went down to visit my sister to assist in the birth of her son. I found my self with so much extra time on my hands and laziness bread laziness. I am a very active person and during the chaotic whirlwind my life ensues amidst the school year, this type of freedom seems coveted. With too much time, however, I found it difficult to be proactive. I believe the key is moderation. If you sprinkle boredom into your life, it has the potential to be quite restorative.
Barbara Warthen
In my opinion, if you are truly bored you must be brain dead. I don’t believe the mind can be absolutely still. It may not always be creating something brilliant but it’s working. I sew, knit and crochet. Not good. There can be too many projects, thinning out the thought process and leaving incomplete projects or some not strong enough because your thoughts are too scattered. Painting is in the dabbling process because I’m always getting a great idea for something else. Anyway, I don’t think people who create are ever truly bored. The mind just jumps from one idea to another
Until it stops at one you really like. Some of us can plot and plan and come up with something great. Some us plot and plan and just get bogged down and it never comes out right. Bored. I don’t think so. I believe the work may just be done subconsciously for some. That may be where the truly great work. The humble opinion of someone who is not an artist but does a little of this or that when the mood strikes. B. Warthen.
Christine Smith
I love to be bored b/c that’s where I’m still (rarely happens) and the day dreaming starts. In the day of all the social media stimulus out there, I think it’s really vital to go off-line.
Tim McKay
Boring. Boring. I never am bored. I try not to be boring. I just love making art. I always have joy. I am never bored. I recall artists I have known for twenty plus years come up to me when I am doing a demo of art making and they always comment that “You are just having fun.” Yes, if it is not fun; I try not to do it. I think main challenge is not boredom, it is instead not being inspired with an idea how to finish a painting. I sometimes rest the paper or canvas for a day or months, until I get an inspirational charge to finish it.
Color Commando
I can’t say that I am ever “Bored” in the reportive sense of the word, but at times I am etymologically bored, not creatively in that I am ever dulled by a lack of idea’s, desire to create etc…but cut with a sharp point when it comes to the illusions & exclusivity created by the primary market and fake art world.
~ Color Commando.
A quote I live by, hmm…
“If you are a serious artist, then you are compelled to do art, like a drug addict you need your fix & will most likely die with a paint brush in your hand” ~ Color Commando.
James Ong
I believe boredom comes from doing the same thing over and over again without being in the moment. Being observant and living in the moment we come to realize how each moment is unique and with this attitude boredom does not stay for boredom becomes bored and leaves us alone. The antidote to boredom is being
curious, like a child at play who is in awe about the world.
When I am bored, I don’t know what to do. I really don’t want to do anything. I guess if I sit and just observe my boredom it forces me to confront my inner thoughts and feelings. Somethings this can be uncomfortable.
admin
I just got an email from someone in response to this post she wrote: “Yes I remember hearing a child psychologists say that children must get bored, it is essential to being creative. Otherwise we are too passive.” This seems to confirm what Clemente is saying. Many thanks to all of you who are contributing to this conversation. I really appreciate hearing your thoughts and experiences with boredom.
Josie Rodriguez
Michelle. This quote is very apropo for me as I am nursing a bad cold and feel lousy and bored.
I am too busy most of the time and this has layed me low. However some incredible moments of creative thought have filtered through my brain. I can’t do too much art right now but I can think! Josie
Sent from my iPhone
Therese Lahaie
Artist and meditation master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche describes the difference between hot and oool boredom and this is an important distinction to be aware of. How do you make the transition from hot to cool boredom and how does it feel?
Here are links to this discussion: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-nichtern/boredom-as-medicine_b_509917.html
http://www.theidproject.org/blog/nancy-thompson/2011/08/13/can-you-let-yourself-be-bored
Cheers,
Therese
Yours,
Therese
admin
Therese,
Thank you so much for sharing these links. Ever since you shared this teaching with me, I have been really observing it in my life. Such a rich and valuable distinction to make.
I so appreciate it!
Michele
Lisa Tousignant
I wonder if boredom these days is a luxury. I seldom experience it. There seem to be plenty of things, especially technology to turn to at the slightest inclination of boredom…and so quickly, I find something else to do, the thought I might be bored never truly enters my awareness. The last time I was bored enough I exclaimed it out loud was when I was in elementary school and it was summer break. My most recent experience with something like boredom was when I was camping about a month ago up at a mountain lake alone, but with my dog. She loves to swim. I thought she had been swimming for hours and it had in fact been but 20 minutes. Time had slowed down to a snails pace. I remember looking at my phone clock after cleaning up after my dinner and seeing it was not even evening yet! I sighed out loud and said “Oh my gosh, I’ve got 3 more hours of daylight!” What was I going to do till bedtime? Time seemed to have stopped. I brought no art to do or book to read. I was unsettled a bit and it took me a while to adjust. I think I turned in for the night before 7 O’clock! This could have been the experience of boredome. As I reflect now, I thought it was about my perception of how time passes. But, perhaps, the two are in twined. On subsequent camping trips this summer, I have brought both art supplies and reading materials with me. But, the interesting thing is I haven’t wanted to do any art. I’ve wanted and welcomed that slow down in my awareness of time so I could just be with it. And, even more interesting is I haven’t been aware of that dramatic slowdown in time. Perhaps, because I’ve learned to expect and welcome it, it doesn’t catch me off guard. I just enjoy.
Thank you for this opportunity to consider boredome, Michele.
(That reads funny to me!)
Michele Theberge
Lisa! I’ve had a very similar experience when camping by myself. How to fill the time? I do think I’m being invited to slow down and do nothing because, like you, even though I may have my nature guides or my art supplies, all I really feel like doing is being still. Nature is so helpful to me for that.
Lisa Tousignant
Michelle! Yes, and that space seems to expand even more when I’m in nature. However, like Linda mentions how it hinders…I’ve felt that too now as I think about it. And there is a fear around that feeling for me. Sitting with it to explore what’s behind it is really scary…vulnerable! And, it usually has something to do with a belief of not being enough. Which is a lie for I am enough as are all, but this human experience sure is effective at hiding that negative message so deep that it rises again even though I thought I had overcome it. I wonder if that level of vulnerability work, when sitting with boredom might create space for a deeper level of creativity. I almost want to be bored now, so I can explore this more!
Eileen
Sometimes our soul or a greater part of our being is moving us in other directions than the one we are used to, or the one our ego is locked into. I see like being unplugged by something greater than my personality. The energy is going in one direction when suddenly, the energy for that thing or way of being with it is no longer there. I see it like the big plugs from the washer or dryer are unplugged from the wall. Stillness descends, or a lack of activity and our attention is directed inward, sometimes with no inner directive or interest. The ego experiences boredom and what I’ve experienced if I allow myself to rest there, is actually a reorientation into something new, that is needing a brooding time. It is a liminal space, a space between the worlds so to speak. A place of new possibilities if I remain in the state of allowing, of being receptive. Something new can then be birthed into awareness and brought into word, art or a new directive.
Michele Theberge
So beautifully put, Eileen. Thank you so much for your eloquent contribution to the conversation!
Eileen
Michele, I teach people on line/skype how to open their Akashic Record and work with this level of consciousness for their personal life and also when they are creating their art. If you know of anyone who has questions about this or would be interested I would be happy to speak with them.
MichealS
I think boredom is a good thing. For me it is the polar opposite of never having enough time. It was also the thing that made art and music a big part of my life. I put this statement up in my studio a while back…. BOREDOM CAN LEAD TO GOOD KARMA….I did this after realizing that being entertained by more exciting things was distracting me from my art goals
Michele Theberge
Thanks for sharing! Say more about that, Michael. Your last statement I was curious about – did you want to be entertained by more exciting things or did you prefer to focus on your art goals?
MichealS
I don’t think I wanted to be entertained it was like an addiction that competed with my art goals.
Several years ago I realized that when I was busy doing things that were necessary I wanted to be doing art. When I had time to do art it seems there were always more interesting and exciting things to do instead. After asking myself over and over why I wanted to do art but I would always do other things instead, it came to me. For me a lot of the time spent doing art is not very interesting or exciting anymore. I had become jaded to its excitement. That’s my nature, I love to learn but easily get bored with the doing. I realized that I am sort of an excitement junkie and will always gravitate toward excitement and away from boring. Well that mind set does not help to reach my art goals. When I started looking at art as more of a job than as entertainment I found contentment, reward and more of a sense of being an artist. My enthusiasm, dedication and passion have bumped it up a few steps. In a nutshell I accepted that more boring over more exciting is a very positive thing for me. It’s like everything in life, we have to find the balance point.
Michele Theberge
I’m so glad you shared this, Michael. I can completely relate to art not being always “exciting”. There are so many parts to making art beyond the “high” of being in the creative flow. I got into art because it was one of the best feelings I’d ever felt at age 16. Decades later, I still get that feeling but there are panels to sand, studio to organize, supplies to buy, paintings to pack and ship, materials to research, website to be updated, sales tax to pay, etc. etc.. So much of the ancillary work to being an artist is not always the most exciting part. But I do enjoy it. But you gave me a whole new window onto why someone might “avoid” their art practice that I hadn’t thought of. It makes total sense. Blessings to you!
Ragna
I feel like nowadays you can’t afford to be bored. Sometimes, if I have nothing to do I will stress about this state of mind. But at the same time I also dont want to do anything. It is a weird loop to be in. You cant talk aloud about being bored because as a quote says “only stupid ones are bored”.
I also think there is a different perception of boredom from extrovert and introvert persons i feel like. AND there is also a difference of feeling bored/restless and actually just feel like you dont have nothing to do.
James McDonald
I do not know if the word boredom is correct or not? I prefer idle wondering or something like that, sounds so…so meaning laden. Do not go, I am serious.
I have found when I back off from something and just let it rest in my mind, I come up with the most wonderful ideas and solutions.
That painting I was working on that just was not “right” and the more I pushed the less satisfied I became. Not any more. Walk away and let my mind solve the issue in the least frustrating way. Ah, just rest for a hour, a day, a month, whatever and it will come around.
I am working on a “painters cart”.And it has proven to be a challenge. What is it? It is a cupboard on wheels with a pallet, easel, storage, for brushes, paint, liquids, canvases, pads, and what ever. And you can lift it into your vehicle. Why? For painting in the field, going to classes, gallery demo’s et al.
I wrote out the specifications for this project and went and got a beer. I collapsed on the couch with my specs and my beer and have been there ever since waiting for more inspiration. My idle wondering will bring it around and I will make 2 of them. One for me and one to sell to you. See what resting thoughtfulness did, a revenue stream.
Bart Brooks
Boredom is like hunger. It prompts you to do something. This is why children when forced to hang around always say “I’m bored.” The child in us cannot stand non-accomplishment. A child always wants to grow, physically, intellectually and spiritually. Unfortunately as adults we train ourselves to be patient mostly to suit society. It is the great ones who were impatient and got it done.
Show me any group that have been working 10 years on something as yet unaccomplished and I’ll show you a group of patient people who will never get it done.
Jackie Sorich
Boredom can lead to quiet reflection and rest. Perhaps boredom is a seeking of balance and renewal. Maybe it is not boredom but a sifting of possibilities. We need to gaze at clouds, feel the wind and begin again.
Jeff Knight
I don’t get time to be bored. Certainly not while I am in the studio. My biggest enemy is frustration, at not getting enough time to get into the studio… I have dozens of ideas darting around my mind and it’s so difficult to get them started! So no boredom is definitely not something that interferes with my creative energy.
Jim McDonald
I guess my original submission did not address the topic well enough. Sorry. I will try to do better next time. My view of boredom is that it is stressful, while idle thinking, resting etc, allows my mind to accelerate on a topic and get subconscious resolution. It has been an interesting read.
Thank you.
Jim McDonald
NEW: I guess my original submission did not address the topic well enough. Sorry. I will try to do better next time. My view of boredom is that it is stressful, while idle thinking, resting etc, allows my mind to accelerate on a topic and get subconscious resolution. It has been an interesting read.
Thank you.
Anita Shaw
Boredom is the best motivator.
Frequently when hearing the word ‘ bored,’ I think back to when my, then young son, complained at our not having a TV, ” I am so bored, all I have that I can do is read!”.
Hmmmm.
Poor lad.