POSITIVELY BORED

by Mauverneen

Boredom is setting in. The holidays are over, the decorations have all been taken down and put away and Mardi Gras isn’t until next month. I don’t have a job (I’m retired), no dog or grandkids, it’s too cold to go for a walk and the winter Olympics won’t be on ‘till next year. I could bake cookies, but I would just eat them all and put on weight, so that’s out.

I did try planning a vacation, but there are always so many paths to go down, at the end of several hours of surfing the net I don’t usually feel like I’ve accomplished anything. And speaking of getting sidetracked - there are hundreds of quotes on boredom and probably just as many websites dedicated to people who are bored. There is even a quiz to find out just how bored you are. I tried taking it but didn’t get very far. It was, seriously, too boring.

As for the quotes on boredom, most of them put the blame squarely on oneself.

If you're bored with life - you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things - you don't have enough goals.  -Lou Holtz

“Human beings make life so interesting. Do you know, that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to invent boredom.”  Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

“Boredom is your mind and body’s way of telling you you’re not living up to your potential.”
― Hal Sparks 

Uncomfortable as it is to admit, I would have to agree. If I’m bored, it's my own fault - I’m not trying hard enough.

When the kids were little, it was fun to bundle them up and take them out to play in the snow. Now that I only have myself to bundle up, I don’t want to go anywhere. If we at least had even a little snow I could go out and get some interesting photos. But so far this winter we've had none. In summer, I can sit on the deck with my camera all day long and enjoy the flowers, the birds, the squirrels. I rarely feel bored. Although I keep looking out the windows, the animals are few and far between this time of year and how many pictures of that red-headed woodpecker do I need?

On the other hand, boredom has been known to kick start some people into creativity. It would be a good time to do some serious tabletop photography or get really good at Photoshop or work on that novel that’s simmering around back there.

I have been known to make and photograph still life arrangements on my kitchen table and know one woman who makes gorgeous abstract photos using colored glassware and water. And I even admit to being bored enough to take photos of the beans that were about to go into the soup pot for supper. They didn’t come out half bad if you want to know – the photos, I mean. The soup was delicious.

p.s. I'm hoping it's a glitch on the site but I've been unable to add photos this week.

As always, words and photos are my own, and require permission to reprint. However, feel free to share the blog in it's entirety. In fact, I encourage it!

Interested in photo prints? Contact me!  email:  maureenblevins@yahoo.com or
visit my website http://mauverneen.com