Instead of boredom I should call it not-doing, perhaps.
By that I mean the moments between doing that used to be filled with… nothing.
They gave our minds a chance to process or to have new ideas or insights.
Those moments of not-doing seem to become exceedingly rare now. We tend to fill the time that used to become not-doing with other things.
I just read an article about this on inc.com…Non-Time as they called it is essential to the creative process. The article mentioned Non-Time as a moment in “Pitch Blackness”. I like that! Our worlds are so “filled” with bright light/things/moments/noises that it is great to picture a time in “Pitch Blackness” or “Void” floating around with our creative thoughts/words/music. I drop into my “Pitch Blackness” every morning from 5am – 6:30am. I suggest everyone find time to drop in as well.
The post title reminds me of the Tanizaki work.
I was not familiar with him but just now found his book “In Praise of Shadows” in the Hoopla Library and borrowed it. In praise of boredom AND shadows! :-)
“Active Inactivity” … Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams
I like to get in a quiet spot and, with eyes open, look around and imagine I am not there at all. Even the chair I’m sitting in – I begin to imagine I am not sitting there. Even the carpet – my feet are not resting on it. I am somewhere there in a different form – or no form at all. It is a powerful, expansive, freeing feeling. No philosophy involved.