It's impossible not to get bored. It happens, and often, that we feel no stimulation, we're indifferent to everything, our energy dwindles, and all that's left is the empty space of inactivity. The feeling isn't pleasant, but are we sure we should always fight boredom? The latest scientific research tells us exactly the opposite: boredom hides a series of atout that we should almost cultivate. First of all it stimulates creativity and change: as much as we are reluctant to change our habits, so boredom helps us review them, giving us the right amount of lucidity. When you're not busy, and your brain isn't besieged by the lightning bolts of presenteeism, but it enters "default" mode, then we are free to make new associations, and it is precisely in those moments that new ideas can arise. and begin to make free associations. Boredom, in dragging us towards a better understanding of ourselves, brings to the surface desires and thoughts we had repressed: a breath of fresh air, and this too is stimulating novelty. Boredom, by its nature, trains attention, whereas the technological deluge we are subjected to 24/7 leads us to have an attention span shorter than the few seconds of a goldfish.
We're capable, with a healthy dose of self-harm, of squandering even the beauty of moments of relaxation, from holidays to weekends (when there's no work to do), from evenings spent with friends to the time—always so little—that we can finally dedicate to family and friends. We always need to be doing something, organizing, being busy, in a hurry, filling life's agenda as if there were never going to be a break from the rhythms of everyday life.
And one of the tools we use to exploit this waste, to the detriment of our psychological and physical well-being, is the fear of boredom, a feeling whose positive dimension we can no longer grasp, for everyone, from children to the elderly. Yet, despite so many Sunday preachers about the needs of the body and mind, there are scientists who, almost in unison, warn: boredom brings many benefits. A Research made at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), in the state of Queensland, Australia, He explored various qualities of boredom, and also provided some scientific answers that explain these properties. When we get bored, the brain enters a phase of “active rest,” thanks to which it takes a break to recharge and find new ideas. Thanks to the loss of attention, a prerequisite and outlet for boredom, the brain gains the space and time needed to make new and creative connections and, above all, to free itself from tensions (stress. e anxiety, precisely) to which he is usually subjected. And he looks for alternatives (other than passivity... because the situation is not sufficiently significant or stimulating)
Notice this: the best ideas, even original and unexpected ones, often come when you're bored, because there are no distractions to interfere.
On the contrary, creativity is compressed, if not eliminated, when we are always looking for new distractions, new things to do, and in particular when we overload the nervous system, dragging it into the swamp of anxiety and stress, neurotically compulsively using the smartphone and not accepting even a few hours of digital detox, the digital diet, to avoid being overwhelmed by technology and its increasingly pervasive tools.
So far, science. Without even asking too much of scientific research, common sense already helps us realize that getting bored it's never a waste of time, in fact it is the best way to get it back, and get out of the trap of presentism.
Boredom helps us discover parts of ourselves we can't even imagine. You might say, "But that way we risk some nasty surprises." It's possible, but it's worth it, because it helps us reflect on ourselves, look inside ourselves, It's an opportunity to take stock of the direction our lives have taken, and perhaps start thinking about making some changes, for the better, not the worse.
Another misunderstanding is the false parallel between being bored and being boring. They are two very different, even irreconcilable, dimensions. Those who rediscover the value and pleasure of boredom are usually the same people who face life with the precious baggage of lightness, of the smile, of theironyThe boring person, on the other hand, is heavy, closed in on himself, with his gaze fixed on his navel.
There is no doubt (and boredom also serves to stimulate doubts and curiosities) that by getting bored, we are better able to contemplate, to get closer, even just for a few moments, to that almost mysterious, but extremely fascinating dimension of spiritual well-being, something that is within us and we also express externally, in the desire to be with others, and not isolate ourselves, as technology often pushes us to do. Obviously there is a boredom from which we must instead flee with our tails between our legs: the one that comes from loneliness and troughThe name of the feeling is the same, but the psycho-physical conditions in which it manifests are diametrically opposed.
And if we want to delve deeper into the misjudgment that lies behind boredom's bad reputation, we should try not to fight it. Especially when we use the wrong method: filling what we feel is a void with the pastime of our smartphones. One scrolling Infinite, driven primarily by social media, which leads straight to a vicious cycle. We get bored, we try to reach for Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, we scroll aimlessly and without any logical sense, and we get even more bored.
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