“To be bored is to be unafraid of our interior lives — a form of moral courage central to being fully human.”

As students finish their last assignments and leave for home and hopefully some extra sleep and down-time, the campus also slows down and gets quieter.  I thought it might be useful to return to the topic of mindfulness by sharing one of my favorite articles written on the topic of boredom.  Rather than an emptiness to be filled, or a numbness to be stimulated, boredom can be a a door to be opened.  It provides an opportunity to be leaned into and a self that can be listened to.  As Betrand Russell writes: “certain good things are not possible except where there is a certain degree of monotony.”

I hope that each of us in the coming weeks can both go in search of boredom, and welcome it when it otherwise presents itself.

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