Why It's Important to Feel Bored...

I'm bored.

I'm the chairman of the bored.

- Iggy Pop, 'I'm Bored'

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Ah, Mr. Osterberg, we all loved the music without taking in the message. I can actually remember this as the first time I saw the great Ig on a late-night TV show. You can click on the link above, and imagine how it felt to be a young child, sitting alone in our basement, and watching this skinny guy in a shiny suit complaining about his lack of things to do.

I thought that he was very unfortunate to be that deprived, that he was a rock and roll singer who had nothing to do, that he was forced to roll around in a darkened room, singing about boredom because he had nothing else to sing about...

How wrong I was.

Let me explain...

I watch many reaction videos on YouTube, usually the ones where Gen Z or Alpha (or whatever they are being called today or next week) watch videos or listen to audio clips of songs that I grew up with and perhaps did not appreciate as much as I should have as a GenXer.

Just the other day, I noted a comment under a reaction to Rush's 'Tom Sawyer' that got to me because it made me consider what we have lost.

Let me quote it here:

Cliff and Karen (the reactors) wonder why we can't make music like this anymore. I genuinely believe it is because we used to be bored. So we learned to really play an instrument. Then they found some guys to smoke a joint with and play guitar for hours. There were three TV stations, a couple of rock stations, and no internet, cell phones, or Netflix. We had the time to be bored and create, rather than just consuming other people's work that has been calibrated to have the most mass appeal.

My mind was blown.

I won't put in the YT handle of the one who wrote this, but it felt as though we had childhoods that were quite similar. I had more than three television stations, but there was no internet (not a problem with no computer in the house), we borrowed a VCR much later and we as a family to video stores once a week to rent something for the weekend. We had local video programs (no MTV; you had to pay for that cable service). We had time and space to think about what to do with our time. We were not so distracted.

We were free.

That damn cellphone... Yes, I know that I sound like a far-too old GenXer when I say these things, but I have to wonder if we have too much of a good thing with them. I go on the bus or metro to work, and I see my students in class pretending to pay attention as they scroll through their screens, and I wonder where we are heading. What kinds of lives are they leading if they cannot even put down a device? What has happened to their inner lives and thoughts if they feel that there is a bigger and better world out there that they dare not miss out on?

I was bored as a child...and I am grateful for those moments when I had to entertain myself. I searched for books at the local library, travelled and climbed trees and found trails and spots where I could be on my own and consider what I wanted from life. I also picked up the guitar and learned how to get pretty close to the sounds that these kids love so much. Maybe if I had not had the books, I'd be in one of those videos, but I am glad that I did not choose too many options, or feel that the world was so overwhelming I should just stare at a screen all day.

James, we are all so unbored right now, and I think we need your life lessons again.

All right doll-face, come on and bore me.

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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