What causes boredom?

[Someone here]

I'm 25 years old and I'm already feeling full and bored of life. Lol 

 I dunno.. most of the time I feel that existence is lame.. Boring.. Mundane. Etc 

It feels like I'm full of positive things. and negative things as well for that matter.

I even stopped listening to Leo. Not sure why. Listening to Leo was one of my favorite experiences in life few years ago. But as with everything else.. I started to lose interest in it. 

How can I remotivate myself and find new interests or regain my interest in the ordinary stuff? 

Also what exactly is the root cause of boredom? Why do we experience it? 

[Vynce]

Struggling with that as well. Eckart Tolle said boredom is the groundwork for distraction. And distraction serves the ego mind, in order for it to have a job. 

After all, what's the point of the ego, when you are completely fine with doing and thinking nothing. So boredom is the first line of defense of the ego for it's survival. 

However, embracing boredom and "making friend with boredom" leads to being completely fine with doing and thinking nothing.

But there are many ego backlashes and distraction periods ahead, before someone reaches that level in our distractive environment. 

There are many sources, which claim that boredom is actually a good thing. It boosts your creativity, makes you more conscious and more sensitive for the beauty of reality. 

 

[Someone here]

@Vynce interesting. I don't like the fact that existence is inherently hollow and boring. But that's just my ego trying to survive. 

Some say boredom arises because our true nature is infinite and it's not satisfied with this finite world. 

[meow_meow]

For me booredom is engaging in activites that do not trigger specific emotions (fun, excitement, pain, suffering etc) basically any activity that triggers any emotion that replaces booredom. Technically even lying on the bed "doing nothing" is still an activity, its just that that activity triggers booredom in you. Also the laziness or not willingness to engage in some sort of activity leads to booredom.

Try either distracting yourself from booredom by engaging in some sort of activity that overdrives the emotion of booredom with other emotions, they dont even have to be positive (the easy way) or try to sit and inquire in to the feeling untill it dissolves and you find peace with it (the hard way)
 

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How can I remotivate myself and find new interests or regain my interest in the ordinary stuff? 

It could be dopamine overload, by that I mean - too much TV, video games, food, sex, porn etc. Try to cut back on it and engage in activities that do not provide short term pleasure (work out, meditate, learn new things, contemplate) all the things you'll most likely feel resistance to. Do that for a while and notice how everyday seems to feel better.

Edited July 11, 2021 by meow_meow

[allislove]

1 hour ago, Someone here said:

What causes boredom?

Identification with "I"-thinking.

[Gesundheit2]

Boredom is caused by expectations. When we expect certain things to happen but they don't, or when we expect them to happen a certain "exciting" way, but they happen some other less desirable way, we tend to experience boredom.

At the same time, our minds are conditioned to expect stimulations all the time. When we don't get enough of them, we tend to crave more. When we don't get more, we tend experience boredom. A detox could give some insight and clarity into this through direct experience and contemplation.

 

But there's an important distinction here:

 

Expectations = thoughts about the near future.

More expectations = more boredom.

 

Motivation = thoughts about the far future.

Thoughts about the far future = vision.

So if you want to motivate yourself, you need to have a vision.

[mandyjw]

Art starts with a blank canvas. 

[universe]

Interesting question.

When I was younger I experienced a lot of boredom. Waiting for the train, waiting for the teacher... whatever.

Maybe it is a state.

When you don't feel like you have anything to do your mind switches to "boredom mode". Instead of just enjoying the present moment and all that it has to offer. It's kind of like a security mechanism to escape the present moment and not having to be "there".

Maybe it helps to integrate your emotions to get to another state, on the other hand it is as simple as tricking your brain that boredom has been deleted from your life.

[gettoefl]

flip side of boredom is excitement

life, you need to excite me, i am so bored

looking for fulfillment outside of oneself is what i called suffering

[Someone here]

56 minutes ago, allislove said:

Identification with "I"-thinking.

What's the connection? 

[Someone here]

53 minutes ago, Gesundheit2 said:

More expectations = more boredom

Shouldn't that be reversed? Less expectations =more boredom.   When you (I) are bored you have no expectations.  only when your expectations fail do you feel kinda shitty. 

[allislove]

25 minutes ago, Someone here said:

What's the connection? 

Direct. There is the belief that you are a separated person, so there is a tendency to put labels on everything, e.g. the experience is boring, existence is lame, what the point of all of this... otherwise, existence just is. Osho's quote comes to mind, something along the lines:

There is no peace of mind - there is peace or mind.

[Someone here]

@allislove so should I stop being a separate person to overcome boredom?  that's an illusion but I must identify as separate. 

[allislove]

23 minutes ago, Someone here said:

@allislove so should I stop being a separate person to overcome boredom? 

 

You have to see that you are not just a human being. If you can see that boredom is just thinking that happening inside you... if it's already inside you - there is no point to do anything with boredom. Say, if you hear a bird's song in the forest... I guess, you usually don't do anything about it, just listening and enjoying the bird's song... the thinking is the same... just enjoy the song so to speak.

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that's an illusion but I must identify as separate. 

No, this is completely up to you. Be open to the idea that everything is one & start to live like that  

[Bob Seeker]

Ralston says in The Book of Not Knowing that boredom stems from loneliness.

probably this loneliness fundamentally stems from the feeling of separateness.

Having a relationship would probably only be a temporary fix, and then you’d need to distract yourself again.

[ZzzleepingBear]

I'd say it is due to a restless mind at it's core. The expectations of tempo in relation of ability to actions, sets the whole body in a certain rythm that the mind might claim to be both useful and a purposeful task. Once this preoccupied intensity drops for any reason. There is a built up tension in the mind that correlates with that of the bodily energy residues that needs a new outlet in terms of mental/physical actions. 

So the intensity of bordom is due to tempo, while the actual cause of bordom might arise due to the lack of growing connections to be made.

[Anahata]

On 7/11/2021 at 6:53 AM, Someone here said:

Also what exactly is the root cause of boredom? Why do we experience it? 

Not following your joy.

[RendHeaven]

Arrogance.

[Anahata]

Boredom = Not liking/enjoying what's happening in the now. 

Think about it this way. I give you a plate full of different fruits. One of them has no taste, it tastes almost like water. You get bored. Why are you keep eating it? You are free to eat another fruit, why stop at what doesn't make you feel good?

Now think about it this way. You are filling your time with what you do in your life. If you don't like what's happening why don't you start doing something else?

Turn your life into something that brings you love and fulfillment.

It's up to you.

If it's raining outside you're not stuck, you're not a tree.

Much love ❤

 

Edited July 16, 2021 by Anahata

[EmJay]

we all have this void that we "need" to fill, boredom is the feeling of that void whenever its not filled good.

of course, this void comes from the ego , or survival , its that for you to survive you got to always be doing something "useful". (maybe this was true thousands of years ago when we had to hunt and such)

Boredom is what made people build high towers and invent high-tech. 

However, when you are more and more aware and conscious, you realize that its okay to just sit here and do nothing (meditation). meditating is all about countering this void/boredom, not by giving it a short term fix, like something exciting, but by directly facing it.

One of the best actualized.org episodes for me is "Overcoming Addiction - The Root Cause Of Every Addiction".

 

Some insights from my journal:

Bored?

You are not bored. Your ego is just taking control at the moment. And its demanding you to do something or get something.    Just let go.  You can use this drive tho to be creative and think of things and do things, but ofc to do that you need to let go of the tension first.

Realize that in this life there is nothing to get.