An Uncomfortable Emotion That’s Worth Feeling
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“In 1989, at Dartmouth College, the poet and essayist Joseph Brodsky delivered what must be one of the strangest commencement addresses of all time,” Daniel Smith wrote recently. “Brodsky told the graduates that their lives would soon be claimed by the ‘incurable malaise’ of boredom. If they thought they already knew this feeling, they were wrong. ‘The worst monotonous drone coming from a lectern or the eye-splitting textbook in turgid English is nothing in comparison to the psychological Sahara that starts right in your bedroom and spurns the horizon,’” Brodsky told the graduates.
Brodsky advised the students not to hide from the feeling. Boredom exists “to teach you the most valuable lesson in your life,” he said, “the lesson of your utter insignificance.” Even if that kind of enlightenment doesn’t come at the end of boredom, Smith notes in his essay, there’s power in letting yourself feel it—while you’re running errands, while you’re doing chores, while you’re on hold with the insurance company. Soon, you may come to understand that those thousands of bored hours are inextricable from a life of meaning.
On Boredom
Boredom Is the Price We Pay for Meaning
By Daniel Smith
When I became a father, I was forced to reckon with the emotion that consumed my days.
How Not to Be Bored When You Have to Wait
By Arthur C. Brooks
Sick of standing in line? Instead of looking at your phone, read on. (From 2024)
Five Books That Will Redirect Your Attention
By Rhian Sasseen
When malaise strikes, a book can break the spell—if you choose the right one.
Still Curious?
- The benefits of a short attention span: Chronic distraction has its upsides, Ben Healy wrote in 2018.
- The great fracturing of American attention: In 2022, Megan Garber wrote on why resisting distraction is one of the foundational challenges of this moment.
Other Diversions
- The friend-group fallacy
- What America’s Next Top Model was really selling
- The most misunderstood concept in psychology (From 2023)
PS
I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. LauraLee C. from Lincoln, Nebraska, sent this photo of a tropical hibiscus. “There are multiple pictures of hibiscus flowers in my collections, but this one always fascinates and charms me, reminding me of a flamenco dancer,” LauraLee writes.
I’ll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks.
— Isabel