Dispell boredom...

I often hear people say that they are bored.  Though I know that I've been guilty of making this statement from time to time, I find it insubstantial and lacking any sense of depth.  Boredom is such a strange idea.  It is the idea that we lack the imagination or drive to push ourselves forward and create interesting situations for ourselves.  

In these trying times, in this (lets face it) depression, it would be easy to fall into a state of boredom.  This ennui... this jadedness... this hopelessness was supposed to be over with the beginning of the reign of President Obama and his ever present claim that "HOPE" would be the mantra of a new era for America.  Like many of my peers, an entire generation of twenty-somethings suspended in the limbo of this economic fall out, I search craigslist, make cold calls, write networking letters, and test out independent endeavours.  Like the beginning pages of Charles Webb's book, The Graduate, many in my generation have (like those before us) been left with the resounding question of "Where do I go from here?"  It is at this point that the existential crisis occurs and we look at ourselves and wonder why we went for that degree or if anyone is really happy working 40 hours a week?  The questions build up and become so heavy that they weigh us down and the ennui sets in and we say "I'm bored," like it is a statement that means something.  "I'm bored" secretly says: "I don't know what to do," "I don't know how many more cover letters I can write," "I don't know how many more times I can be rejected by that oh-so-perfect-job," "I don't know who you want me to be, world! Just tell me who to be!"

The problem with this "boredom," this ennui, this heaviness, is that as it builds up we feel the hope seeping out of us.  Our imagination dwindles.  We sit on the sofa and feel like sloths, confused and no longer motivated.  

I have made it my mission to NOT feel this way.  Despite the heaviness built up by the weight of the question: "So, have you found a job yet?" and the feel of my stomach dropping as I read the email words: "Thank you for your interest in such-and-such position.  We had many excellent candidates, including you, so the decision was difficult, but we want you to know that we have offered the position to another candidate."  These failures build up in my mind and I've got to keep them at bay and remember that I'm not bored.  

I set a goal each week and try to meet it.  I build a space within myself to be happy.  I do not beat myself up.

What I'm trying to say is: boredom is a construction.  It is a pushing back of optimism and hope.  Lets expel "boredom" from our vocabulary, please.  Lets go out and explore the world because we can, because we are healthy and the world is at our fingertips.  It doesn't take money to go on an adventure.