Peace in boredom

I have always been a social being. This pandemic is kicking my butt for a whole host of reasons, but having to be apart from friends and find ways to entertain myself has been among my biggest challenges.

I know I am not alone in this. Boredom seems to be the name of the game these days.

Can I pick up a hobby? That sour dough bread won’t make itself.

I mean, I tried. Early on, I bought a puzzle. I purchased a journal. I downloaded Candy Crush. I tried!

After reviewing all of my options, I’ve decided my new hobby is boredom. That’s right. I’m choosing to be bored.

This is not advice. I’m not suggesting that latency is necessarily the best tactic to get through this pandemic.

HOWEVER

For me? I am choosing to find peace in the boredom. There is nothing that needs to get done. There is nothing on my anxiety-filled plate that requires my immediate attention. So I’m relieving myself of the guilt that ‘that’s not done’ or ‘this could be done.’

At some point, the world will go back to normal. Maybe it will be a new normal, but responsibilities will come back 10-fold. We will go back to the litany of places we need to be or should be or want to be.

These are not normal days. There is no way to pandemic ‘well.’ Everyone is trying to figure out how to endure this crap while trying to maintain a semblance of sanity.

For some, that’s getting a Peloton. For others, it’s mastering the art of bread making. For a while I felt pressure to find my pandemic ‘thing.’

How ever shall I use this gift of time I’ve been granted?

Then I realized, this time is a gift and for once in my life, there is nowhere I’m ever expected to be. Work remains (thankfully). I still need food to eat. I still need to get my children on line for school. But there are no extra curriculars to get to, meetings to run out the door for or events to prepare for.

Everything has slowed down. So I’ve chosen to embrace the pace and find peace in the boredom.

There will be plenty to do when the world re-opens. For now, I’m granting myself a pandemic pass to just rest, and be bored.