October 11, 2023 • 23 mins
Ever wondered how embracing boredom can fuel your creativity? Join Mama Judy and myself as we redefine boredom. Instead of filling every moment of the day with busyness, we invite you to embrace those idle moments as golden opportunities to declutter your thoughts and let your imagination fuel your creativity.
Instead of fearing boredom, let's repurpose it as a catalyst for personal and creative growth!
We hope you enjoy!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Oh good, you made it.
We are so glad you're here.
Welcome to the Mama Judy andJill podcast, an
intergenerational chat aboutlife, art and the creative
process.
I'm your host, jill, andjoining me is my wonderful
co-host and bonus mom, mama Judy.
Let's get started.
Hello, welcome back.
(00:21):
We are so happy you are here.
Mama Judy and I, if you'rewatching on YouTube, showed up
on Zoom together and we are bothlooking like pumpkin spice
latte, like pumpkins.
Basically, we are both bringingout the fall colors, aren't we,
mama Judy?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We are and it just reminds me of all the
everybody's had a similarexperience where you put
something on and you're goingsomewhere with somebody and they
show up in the same colors.
And yeah, I thought the samething, jill, when I was getting
ready.
I thought, oh gosh, it's falland I love fall colors.
Let me put on this kind ofpumpkin brown scarf and there
(01:02):
you are, in your sweater ofexactly the same color.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yes, and where I am and where we are, it is fall.
Some places in the world it'snot fall for them, but where we
are it is fall.
And today I was so cold, I wasso chilled this morning that I
threw on this huge, big cozysweater.
So, yes, love it.
Okay, today, mama Judy and Iare going to be talking about
the subject of boredom andpatience.
And before you run, before youthink, oh, I don't get bored, or
(01:29):
I have enough patience, or Idon't have patience, just just
clue in, I think we've got somelittle pearl, or, mama Judy, I
know we'll have some pearls ofwisdom here for us.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
So let's get started with this, mama Judy, all right
we'll start Jill with thequestion what do you do when
you're bored?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Well, I don't think I , especially when it comes to
art or maybe other things too, Idon't really feel that I get
bored.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And okay, well, yes, perhaps we'll see.
So let me ask you this what isyour definition of boredom?
Speaker 1 (02:07):
My definition would be where you are feeling like
you have nothing to do, that youare not being inspired or you
just don't have somethingproductive to do.
I think that's how I would putboredom and then you kind of
have this feeling like I shouldbe doing something.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Oh those.
You have hit upon three pointsthat I want to touch on, and
number one is you feel that youshould be doing something, you
should be productive.
You should be doing, and I'dlike to, and that's probably
what most people think, and Ithink for the most part,
(02:53):
everybody runs from boredom,because we're so programmed in
our culture to be productive andif you work, your boss wants
you to be productive.
So when you come home you'vegot that mindset.
It's like that hamster on thewheel.
You just keep going, and I'dlike people to think about their
(03:17):
days, their lives, and what dothey do when they get bored.
If all of a sudden, like yousaid, jill, you don't feel like
you're accomplishing something,you rush off to do something
else that will make you feelmore productive.
I want to be a champion forboredom, and I'm not talking
(03:37):
about the kind of boredom thatgoes on and and lingers, and
lingers, but boredom is reallykind of a disinterest in what's
going on.
You can't get stimulated.
Oh, nothing, nothing iscatching me and I'm just.
I'm just here, flounderingaround and I'm so bored.
How many times, especially kids, how many times have you heard
(04:00):
that I'm so bored?
Let's look at boredom a littledifferently when we have a life
that is filled, whether it's atwork or even in our own
creativity that we have to keepdoing, and doing, and doing.
And we like you, for example,if you're bored with one project
(04:23):
, you go pick up another one.
Every time that we change that,we multitask we're literally
wearing our brains out.
We're not giving them a chanceto recharge, because when you go
from one project to another,this to that, you cause
neurological synapses in thebrain, and the brain is like the
(04:48):
body it needs to dump anddeclutter, and that's what
boredom is for, I believe,before you go and eat more.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
I want to ask you a question, judy.
So, and I do want to get backto the decluttering.
That is very interesting to toput it in that way.
But first, as you were talking,I was thinking, okay,
creatively, as an artist.
Was you know, one of the lasttimes that you felt bored, like
I'm just curious, what does thatlook like for you?
Did it come on?
(05:17):
What did you do with it?
How do you feel just as anartist?
Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
You know I think it's when I've been doing the same
thing, almost a repetition,where you get into an autopilot.
You can feel unstimulated atthat time.
You're creating, but maybe it'snot really grabbing you, and
(05:43):
that's what it feels like to meis that, oh, I'm kind of bored
doing this same type of art.
So what I do is I havedifferent types of art that I
try to do, so that if oneparticular type of art is kind
(06:03):
of stale, let's say, then I canstill do art, but I do it for
myself in a different medium.
But getting back to boredom,remember when you were a kid and
you were bored.
This is before technology.
What did you do?
Speaker 1 (06:26):
well, the image that came to mind right off the bat
is, if I was bored, I wouldusually go do some sort of
pretend play, like I would goset up my mom's ironing board
and put her jewelry out andpretend I was a jewelry cleaner,
or I would go outside andwander around and end up sitting
in a field putting together adaisy chain.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Okay, so in other words, you were using your
imagination.
You were not thinking.
Alright, that's one of mypoints.
One of my points is that, inboredom, what we do today is
just like you said we run andfind something to be more
(07:08):
productive or and I'm bad aboutthis too kids.
So we scroll through Facebookor Instagram, we look at the cat
videos and, I'm sorry, I am asucker for cat videos.
Send all your cat videos MamaJudy's way.
No kidding, I just love them,but it's like going down the
(07:30):
rabbit hole.
That's what we do when we'rebored anymore.
We grab something to entertainus.
What I'd like people to thinkabout is, when you're bored for
a little bit, don't go doanything, don't grab anything.
Now, I'm not saying that thiswill be every single time you
(07:53):
feel bored or you'll do it forhours on end, but boredom is
when the brain can clear itselfout.
If you're bored and you justkind of sit on the patio and you
just sit.
We're not talking aboutmeditation, we're just talking
(08:14):
about some quiet time that youcan sit, not worry about the
next project, not worry aboutwhat dinner is going to be done,
just sit and maybe daydream.
Or look at the tree across thestreet and make figures out of
it Again, go out and look atclouds.
Give yourself some time to getrid of everything that's going
(08:37):
on in the mind.
And the reason I think this isso important that we not grab
something to entertain us whenwe're bored is because
creativity lurks beneath thesurface of boredom.
Everybody knows the Harry Potterseries.
(08:58):
I mean, I don't think there'sanybody on the face of the earth
that doesn't know.
Well, I read a statement onetime that that series came out
of boredom, jk Rowling's was ona train.
She was going to be on thetrain for four hours, she didn't
have anything to do, so shedaydreamed out the window and
(09:21):
came out with this wonderfulcharacter of Harry Potter Potter
.
Anyway, my point is out of herboredom, out of her daydreaming,
her creativity began to surfaceand ideas came up.
(09:44):
How many times have you everbeen in the shower and you've
had this wonderful aha moment?
Oh God you go.
That is a great idea, yes, well, when you're in the shower,
you're probably not thinking oftoo much, you're just standing
there under the water.
So you're in that state, likeyou can be in boredom, where
(10:06):
you're not thinking.
You're allowing, and byallowing we get to have things
come to the surface that if wegrab our cell phone, if I go to
the cat videos, I'm going tomiss them.
Now am I telling you that I'mgoing to quit looking at cat
(10:27):
videos?
No, but I'm going to be aware,I'm going to be conscious.
And I'll give you anotherexample.
For me with the lupus, when Itake a nap and I wake up A lot
of times there's a lot of pain,because when you're relaxed.
Pain is like creativity itcomes to the surface, your
(10:50):
awareness.
So when I get up, I usuallytake some ibuprofen to knock the
inflammation back.
Well, I've noticed.
I got to thinking what is it Ido?
I grab my iPad, I go to my wordgame and I play it.
And it dawned on me a shorttime ago that I was doing
(11:16):
exactly the same thing.
I was filling time.
What I do now is I get up and Ijust sit for maybe 15, 20
minutes and just like have quiettime.
I'm bored.
Oh, look at the clouds, becausewho knows what might come up
(11:37):
during that time.
So we're all guilty of it andit's so, so easy to grab One
piece of technology.
But we need to allow things tocome out from underneath our
brain and that's wherecreativity lurks.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Well.
So how is?
And I understand it makes sense, but then how is just allowing
yourself to be bored differentthan choosing to spend 15
minutes being present and I'mnot talking about meditation,
just being present or like.
And then does that mean, isbeing present a state of boredom
?
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Because to me, no they're really kind of together.
Being present is a consciouschoice.
You choose to be present.
You are mindful.
As Eckhart totally would say,boredom is something that
everybody automatically willfeel and again, I think it
(12:37):
relates back to the more we arestimulated.
It's like a drug.
We need just more stimulation.
So we don't know how to handlethe downtime, the boring times,
and I think some people actuallyhave confessed to being afraid
(12:59):
of boredom because it makes themfeel less worthy, because
they're not being productive.
So this again, jill, is one ofthose things that you have to
become aware of.
And I think about and, like Isaid, I think a lot of maybe too
(13:21):
cerebrally about everything inlife, but I've realized that I
don't even handle boredom like Iwould like to.
So I'm going to make time for alittle boredom in my life.
Maybe boredom is the wrong wordfor people, but to just make
(13:41):
sure that we are not alwaysreaching for something
externally that stimulates us.
Yes, because it's the internalor the creativity.
We can go external, externally,and get inspired.
I'm not saying it's an all ornothing, but I am saying that
(14:03):
we're probably out of whack asfar as grabbing for something
like an iPhone or an iPad toentertain us when we have
moments that we see ourselvesmindlessly, just like I did with
my word game.
It wasn't even the thought outprocess.
(14:23):
Oh, I'll sit here and I'll workon my word game until the
ibuprofen kicks in.
Well, I don't have to do that.
That's a mindless Right.
There was a wonderful articleand it's not related to art.
It was in the business magazineon the science of boredom, and
(14:43):
they have calculated that youngpeople growing up now, based on
the average use of Facebook,will spend two years of their
lives on Facebook.
Facebook is mindless.
Now, anytime I say this abouttechnology, don't think I've
(15:04):
been purist and I don't use it.
But again, it's just mindlessentertainment and my whole point
is that the boredom that comesup, don't reach for your
technology.
Think about it.
Oh, maybe next time I wake upand I reach for my word game,
(15:26):
I'll go.
Oh, wait a minute, look at me,I'm reaching for mindless
entertainment.
What if I just sat here?
What creative ideas might popup?
I'm looking in all thesediscussions Jill for ways for us
to uncover creativity andsometimes filling the brain the
(15:50):
cerebral congestion does nothelp our creativity.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Wow, that is powerful .
That's a great to chooseboredom at times, Because I'm
the only guy I pick up my phoneand first thing usually in the
morning too and just get todoing my word game, my Spanish
lesson, all this and stuff.
Just saying I'm going to givemyself 10 minutes of boredom and
see what happens.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Yes, yes, I think we should continue to call it
boredom.
I was going to say quiet time.
I thought, no, let's call itboredom Because boredom has such
a bad rep.
So let's call it boredom.
I'm going to be bored for thenext 10 minutes, the next half
hour, yes, and I'm just going tosit and when we get done, I'd
(16:38):
like to just turn this around toshow people the view that I
have for the next month as I sitand play with my boredom.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
One thing we mentioned at the top, before we
wrap this up, is the wordpatience.
So how does do you see patienceintertwined in this discussion?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Well, boredom and patience to me.
I was thinking about this.
They kind of parallel eachother.
They kind of lurk on thecorners of each other.
With boredom, we just talkedabout how it can uncover
creative ideas.
Well, part of why we reach forsomething besides just sitting
(17:28):
there is we're very impatientpeople.
So boredom requires somepatience.
You have to be patient withyourself.
To just sit there, some peoplelistening, it may be very easy
to spend a half an hour withthemselves.
For others it might take workand you start small.
(17:50):
That's one way that boredom andpatience kind of parallel each
other.
The other thing that I'vethought about in patience is in
our art.
When we're doing our art,because we are so used to being
instant gratification, instantstimulation, it can leak over to
(18:16):
doing our art, where we don'tgive into our art fully because
we want instant gratification.
We don't have the patience, andpeople may get tired of me
giving my examples, but they'rethe only ones I know about.
(18:36):
Please jump in with yours.
But I love oil painting but Idon't have the patience to let
the oil paints dry, and I knowthat I have tried it.
Bless my heart, I've tried itand I just am so ingrained in
instant gratification that Ichoose mediums that I can work
(19:02):
with faster.
Impatient can interfere withtotally developing your artistic
endeavors, and that's what Ithink when I think they both
kind of parallel.
We need to be bored once in awhile and we need to be patient
with ourselves and our art.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Yes, well, and I love to hear from our audience, who
are so great about leaving uscomments In different things,
and so we would love to hearfrom you as an audience Number
one.
We're curious because I wouldhave thought boredom sounds like
a bad word before, but I lovethe idea of Embracing boredom as
a good thing and a really goodpart of a creative's life or
(19:47):
Vinny Wins life, for that matterand so I'm just curious what
experiences our listeners havehad with Boredom kind of how
they approach it, how it stopsthem, or if this is a new way
that they want to embracethinking about boredom as well.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
I would too, jill I.
I Absolutely love it when weget a comment from anybody, so I
highly encourage people toshare with us All of your
thoughts on anything, and ifanything comes up in these
discussions that you and I have,these Conversations that
(20:23):
trigger something that somebodyelse would like us to pursue,
we're happy to hear that too.
But I know for me I'm gonna bemuch more mindful of my use of
boredom in my art and in my life.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Me too, you you have.
You have convinced me thistoday, mama Judy.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
I am go go be bored for the rest of.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
But you mentioned the view too.
We got to show the view beforewe jump off.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Okay.
So here's the thing wheneverybody's walking around going
okay, mama Judy told me Ishould be bored.
Today I'll loud, please.
If any creative thought comesup during your board time, let
us know.
We would love to hear if yourexperience Mirrors ours and
(21:16):
mirrors what some of the bestartists have said, that Boredom
plays a part in their creativity.
In fact, I believe it was SteveJobs that said boredom is where
everything Exists, and Ithought that was something like
that.
I hope I'm not misquoting againbecause I don't have it right
(21:39):
in front of me, but let me seeif I can Hang on everybody.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Okay, and if you're if you're only listening to the
podcast head on over to YouTubeto check out the view mama
Judy's about to share.
She's an organ right now.
Mama Judy, you just describedthe view for the people that are
only listening to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
All right.
Well, my boredom place thismonth is going to be Looking
Down the Willamette River.
It's a perfect place for me tobe bored, to just sit and and
allow the ideas to come, and sothat's where I will spend my
(22:22):
time, in order to allow boredomand quiet time to unclutter my
mind and Perhaps bring me somenew creative ideas.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Amen, we could all use a few more of those.
Yes, we can.
All right, mama, I love you.
I will see you in organ in twoweeks.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Yes, you will, and everybody.
Thank you again for comingalong with us on this fun
journey.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Y'all have a great rest of your week.
We'll talk to you next time.
Bye.
Oh good, you made it.
We are so glad you're here.
Welcome to the Mama Judy andJill podcast, an
intergenerational chat aboutlife, art and the creative
process.
I'm your host, jill, andjoining me is my wonderful
co-host and bonus mom, mama Judy.
Let's get started.
Hello, welcome back.
(00:21):
We are so happy you are here.
Mama Judy and I, if you'rewatching on YouTube, showed up
on Zoom together and we are bothlooking like pumpkin spice
latte, like pumpkins.
Basically, we are both bringingout the fall colors, aren't we,
mama Judy?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We are and it just reminds me of all the
everybody's had a similarexperience where you put
something on and you're goingsomewhere with somebody and they
show up in the same colors.
And yeah, I thought the samething, jill, when I was getting
ready.
I thought, oh gosh, it's falland I love fall colors.
Let me put on this kind ofpumpkin brown scarf and there
(01:02):
you are, in your sweater ofexactly the same color.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yes, and where I am and where we are, it is fall.
Some places in the world it'snot fall for them, but where we
are it is fall.
And today I was so cold, I wasso chilled this morning that I
threw on this huge, big cozysweater.
So, yes, love it.
Okay, today, mama Judy and Iare going to be talking about
the subject of boredom andpatience.
And before you run, before youthink, oh, I don't get bored, or
(01:29):
I have enough patience, or Idon't have patience, just just
clue in, I think we've got somelittle pearl, or, mama Judy, I
know we'll have some pearls ofwisdom here for us.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
So let's get started with this, mama Judy, all right
we'll start Jill with thequestion what do you do when
you're bored?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Well, I don't think I , especially when it comes to
art or maybe other things too, Idon't really feel that I get
bored.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And okay, well, yes, perhaps we'll see.
So let me ask you this what isyour definition of boredom?
Speaker 1 (02:07):
My definition would be where you are feeling like
you have nothing to do, that youare not being inspired or you
just don't have somethingproductive to do.
I think that's how I would putboredom and then you kind of
have this feeling like I shouldbe doing something.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Oh those.
You have hit upon three pointsthat I want to touch on, and
number one is you feel that youshould be doing something, you
should be productive.
You should be doing, and I'dlike to, and that's probably
what most people think, and Ithink for the most part,
(02:53):
everybody runs from boredom,because we're so programmed in
our culture to be productive andif you work, your boss wants
you to be productive.
So when you come home you'vegot that mindset.
It's like that hamster on thewheel.
You just keep going, and I'dlike people to think about their
(03:17):
days, their lives, and what dothey do when they get bored.
If all of a sudden, like yousaid, jill, you don't feel like
you're accomplishing something,you rush off to do something
else that will make you feelmore productive.
I want to be a champion forboredom, and I'm not talking
(03:37):
about the kind of boredom thatgoes on and and lingers, and
lingers, but boredom is reallykind of a disinterest in what's
going on.
You can't get stimulated.
Oh, nothing, nothing iscatching me and I'm just.
I'm just here, flounderingaround and I'm so bored.
How many times, especially kids, how many times have you heard
(04:00):
that I'm so bored?
Let's look at boredom a littledifferently when we have a life
that is filled, whether it's atwork or even in our own
creativity that we have to keepdoing, and doing, and doing.
And we like you, for example,if you're bored with one project
(04:23):
, you go pick up another one.
Every time that we change that,we multitask we're literally
wearing our brains out.
We're not giving them a chanceto recharge, because when you go
from one project to another,this to that, you cause
neurological synapses in thebrain, and the brain is like the
(04:48):
body it needs to dump anddeclutter, and that's what
boredom is for, I believe,before you go and eat more.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
I want to ask you a question, judy.
So, and I do want to get backto the decluttering.
That is very interesting to toput it in that way.
But first, as you were talking,I was thinking, okay,
creatively, as an artist.
Was you know, one of the lasttimes that you felt bored, like
I'm just curious, what does thatlook like for you?
Did it come on?
(05:17):
What did you do with it?
How do you feel just as anartist?
Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
You know I think it's when I've been doing the same
thing, almost a repetition,where you get into an autopilot.
You can feel unstimulated atthat time.
You're creating, but maybe it'snot really grabbing you, and
(05:43):
that's what it feels like to meis that, oh, I'm kind of bored
doing this same type of art.
So what I do is I havedifferent types of art that I
try to do, so that if oneparticular type of art is kind
(06:03):
of stale, let's say, then I canstill do art, but I do it for
myself in a different medium.
But getting back to boredom,remember when you were a kid and
you were bored.
This is before technology.
What did you do?
Speaker 1 (06:26):
well, the image that came to mind right off the bat
is, if I was bored, I wouldusually go do some sort of
pretend play, like I would goset up my mom's ironing board
and put her jewelry out andpretend I was a jewelry cleaner,
or I would go outside andwander around and end up sitting
in a field putting together adaisy chain.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Okay, so in other words, you were using your
imagination.
You were not thinking.
Alright, that's one of mypoints.
One of my points is that, inboredom, what we do today is
just like you said we run andfind something to be more
(07:08):
productive or and I'm bad aboutthis too kids.
So we scroll through Facebookor Instagram, we look at the cat
videos and, I'm sorry, I am asucker for cat videos.
Send all your cat videos MamaJudy's way.
No kidding, I just love them,but it's like going down the
(07:30):
rabbit hole.
That's what we do when we'rebored anymore.
We grab something to entertainus.
What I'd like people to thinkabout is, when you're bored for
a little bit, don't go doanything, don't grab anything.
Now, I'm not saying that thiswill be every single time you
(07:53):
feel bored or you'll do it forhours on end, but boredom is
when the brain can clear itselfout.
If you're bored and you justkind of sit on the patio and you
just sit.
We're not talking aboutmeditation, we're just talking
(08:14):
about some quiet time that youcan sit, not worry about the
next project, not worry aboutwhat dinner is going to be done,
just sit and maybe daydream.
Or look at the tree across thestreet and make figures out of
it Again, go out and look atclouds.
Give yourself some time to getrid of everything that's going
(08:37):
on in the mind.
And the reason I think this isso important that we not grab
something to entertain us whenwe're bored is because
creativity lurks beneath thesurface of boredom.
Everybody knows the Harry Potterseries.
(08:58):
I mean, I don't think there'sanybody on the face of the earth
that doesn't know.
Well, I read a statement onetime that that series came out
of boredom, jk Rowling's was ona train.
She was going to be on thetrain for four hours, she didn't
have anything to do, so shedaydreamed out the window and
(09:21):
came out with this wonderfulcharacter of Harry Potter Potter
.
Anyway, my point is out of herboredom, out of her daydreaming,
her creativity began to surfaceand ideas came up.
(09:44):
How many times have you everbeen in the shower and you've
had this wonderful aha moment?
Oh God you go.
That is a great idea, yes, well, when you're in the shower,
you're probably not thinking oftoo much, you're just standing
there under the water.
So you're in that state, likeyou can be in boredom, where
(10:06):
you're not thinking.
You're allowing, and byallowing we get to have things
come to the surface that if wegrab our cell phone, if I go to
the cat videos, I'm going tomiss them.
Now am I telling you that I'mgoing to quit looking at cat
(10:27):
videos?
No, but I'm going to be aware,I'm going to be conscious.
And I'll give you anotherexample.
For me with the lupus, when Itake a nap and I wake up A lot
of times there's a lot of pain,because when you're relaxed.
Pain is like creativity itcomes to the surface, your
(10:50):
awareness.
So when I get up, I usuallytake some ibuprofen to knock the
inflammation back.
Well, I've noticed.
I got to thinking what is it Ido?
I grab my iPad, I go to my wordgame and I play it.
And it dawned on me a shorttime ago that I was doing
(11:16):
exactly the same thing.
I was filling time.
What I do now is I get up and Ijust sit for maybe 15, 20
minutes and just like have quiettime.
I'm bored.
Oh, look at the clouds, becausewho knows what might come up
(11:37):
during that time.
So we're all guilty of it andit's so, so easy to grab One
piece of technology.
But we need to allow things tocome out from underneath our
brain and that's wherecreativity lurks.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Well.
So how is?
And I understand it makes sense, but then how is just allowing
yourself to be bored differentthan choosing to spend 15
minutes being present and I'mnot talking about meditation,
just being present or like.
And then does that mean, isbeing present a state of boredom
?
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Because to me, no they're really kind of together.
Being present is a consciouschoice.
You choose to be present.
You are mindful.
As Eckhart totally would say,boredom is something that
everybody automatically willfeel and again, I think it
(12:37):
relates back to the more we arestimulated.
It's like a drug.
We need just more stimulation.
So we don't know how to handlethe downtime, the boring times,
and I think some people actuallyhave confessed to being afraid
(12:59):
of boredom because it makes themfeel less worthy, because
they're not being productive.
So this again, jill, is one ofthose things that you have to
become aware of.
And I think about and, like Isaid, I think a lot of maybe too
(13:21):
cerebrally about everything inlife, but I've realized that I
don't even handle boredom like Iwould like to.
So I'm going to make time for alittle boredom in my life.
Maybe boredom is the wrong wordfor people, but to just make
(13:41):
sure that we are not alwaysreaching for something
externally that stimulates us.
Yes, because it's the internalor the creativity.
We can go external, externally,and get inspired.
I'm not saying it's an all ornothing, but I am saying that
(14:03):
we're probably out of whack asfar as grabbing for something
like an iPhone or an iPad toentertain us when we have
moments that we see ourselvesmindlessly, just like I did with
my word game.
It wasn't even the thought outprocess.
(14:23):
Oh, I'll sit here and I'll workon my word game until the
ibuprofen kicks in.
Well, I don't have to do that.
That's a mindless Right.
There was a wonderful articleand it's not related to art.
It was in the business magazineon the science of boredom, and
(14:43):
they have calculated that youngpeople growing up now, based on
the average use of Facebook,will spend two years of their
lives on Facebook.
Facebook is mindless.
Now, anytime I say this abouttechnology, don't think I've
(15:04):
been purist and I don't use it.
But again, it's just mindlessentertainment and my whole point
is that the boredom that comesup, don't reach for your
technology.
Think about it.
Oh, maybe next time I wake upand I reach for my word game,
(15:26):
I'll go.
Oh, wait a minute, look at me,I'm reaching for mindless
entertainment.
What if I just sat here?
What creative ideas might popup?
I'm looking in all thesediscussions Jill for ways for us
to uncover creativity andsometimes filling the brain the
(15:50):
cerebral congestion does nothelp our creativity.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Wow, that is powerful .
That's a great to chooseboredom at times, Because I'm
the only guy I pick up my phoneand first thing usually in the
morning too and just get todoing my word game, my Spanish
lesson, all this and stuff.
Just saying I'm going to givemyself 10 minutes of boredom and
see what happens.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Yes, yes, I think we should continue to call it
boredom.
I was going to say quiet time.
I thought, no, let's call itboredom Because boredom has such
a bad rep.
So let's call it boredom.
I'm going to be bored for thenext 10 minutes, the next half
hour, yes, and I'm just going tosit and when we get done, I'd
(16:38):
like to just turn this around toshow people the view that I
have for the next month as I sitand play with my boredom.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
One thing we mentioned at the top, before we
wrap this up, is the wordpatience.
So how does do you see patienceintertwined in this discussion?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Well, boredom and patience to me.
I was thinking about this.
They kind of parallel eachother.
They kind of lurk on thecorners of each other.
With boredom, we just talkedabout how it can uncover
creative ideas.
Well, part of why we reach forsomething besides just sitting
(17:28):
there is we're very impatientpeople.
So boredom requires somepatience.
You have to be patient withyourself.
To just sit there, some peoplelistening, it may be very easy
to spend a half an hour withthemselves.
For others it might take workand you start small.
(17:50):
That's one way that boredom andpatience kind of parallel each
other.
The other thing that I'vethought about in patience is in
our art.
When we're doing our art,because we are so used to being
instant gratification, instantstimulation, it can leak over to
(18:16):
doing our art, where we don'tgive into our art fully because
we want instant gratification.
We don't have the patience, andpeople may get tired of me
giving my examples, but they'rethe only ones I know about.
(18:36):
Please jump in with yours.
But I love oil painting but Idon't have the patience to let
the oil paints dry, and I knowthat I have tried it.
Bless my heart, I've tried itand I just am so ingrained in
instant gratification that Ichoose mediums that I can work
(19:02):
with faster.
Impatient can interfere withtotally developing your artistic
endeavors, and that's what Ithink when I think they both
kind of parallel.
We need to be bored once in awhile and we need to be patient
with ourselves and our art.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Yes, well, and I love to hear from our audience, who
are so great about leaving uscomments In different things,
and so we would love to hearfrom you as an audience Number
one.
We're curious because I wouldhave thought boredom sounds like
a bad word before, but I lovethe idea of Embracing boredom as
a good thing and a really goodpart of a creative's life or
(19:47):
Vinny Wins life, for that matterand so I'm just curious what
experiences our listeners havehad with Boredom kind of how
they approach it, how it stopsthem, or if this is a new way
that they want to embracethinking about boredom as well.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
I would too, jill I.
I Absolutely love it when weget a comment from anybody, so I
highly encourage people toshare with us All of your
thoughts on anything, and ifanything comes up in these
discussions that you and I have,these Conversations that
(20:23):
trigger something that somebodyelse would like us to pursue,
we're happy to hear that too.
But I know for me I'm gonna bemuch more mindful of my use of
boredom in my art and in my life.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Me too, you you have.
You have convinced me thistoday, mama Judy.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
I am go go be bored for the rest of.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
But you mentioned the view too.
We got to show the view beforewe jump off.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Okay.
So here's the thing wheneverybody's walking around going
okay, mama Judy told me Ishould be bored.
Today I'll loud, please.
If any creative thought comesup during your board time, let
us know.
We would love to hear if yourexperience Mirrors ours and
(21:16):
mirrors what some of the bestartists have said, that Boredom
plays a part in their creativity.
In fact, I believe it was SteveJobs that said boredom is where
everything Exists, and Ithought that was something like
that.
I hope I'm not misquoting againbecause I don't have it right
(21:39):
in front of me, but let me seeif I can Hang on everybody.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Okay, and if you're if you're only listening to the
podcast head on over to YouTubeto check out the view mama
Judy's about to share.
She's an organ right now.
Mama Judy, you just describedthe view for the people that are
only listening to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
All right.
Well, my boredom place thismonth is going to be Looking
Down the Willamette River.
It's a perfect place for me tobe bored, to just sit and and
allow the ideas to come, and sothat's where I will spend my
(22:22):
time, in order to allow boredomand quiet time to unclutter my
mind and Perhaps bring me somenew creative ideas.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Amen, we could all use a few more of those.
Yes, we can.
All right, mama, I love you.
I will see you in organ in twoweeks.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Yes, you will, and everybody.
Thank you again for comingalong with us on this fun
journey.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Y'all have a great rest of your week.
We'll talk to you next time.
Bye.
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