Day 203 - Boredom

 BOREDOM

Prompt - Boredom : Write about being bored and make a list of different ways to entertain yourself.

Boredom?  What's that?  I have to cast my mind back a good few years to remember.  Although doing so is aided by looking back at my old diaries from the eighties.  Then I spent much of my time feeling bored.  Because I was at work.  I have had some truly tedious jobs during my career, and often I would try to break the monotony by writing.  Sometimes fiction, mostly just stream of consciousness stuff about whatever was in my head.  Or by writing diary entries.  And in the late eighties I even wrote some computer games (which were never shared with others).  But it was still a boring place to be.

Which was not always true, and sometimes work could be interesting, more so when I moved from Titchfield to Southport.  But it still had the ability to be mind numbing.  Then came retirement.  There a lot of people who fear being retired, and many whose fears are realised for they feel at a loss.  I have never felt that way, and I doubt I ever will.  Since I left work I have some of the very best years of my life.  And the problem is not boredom, but cramming everything into the limited hours of each day.

There are always so many things to do, so many alternatives.  Every day I write, and I try to walk a good distance.  There are books to read, social media to be absorbed in, computer games to play, TV programmes to watch, music to listen to and more books to read.  There are odd jobs around the house, and sometimes bigger projects.  Most days have some food shopping, and the enjoyment of cooking (and sometimes reading when there are periods of waiting for things to be ready).  

And we do stuff.  Maybe not so much now in these strange pandemic times, but that will change.  So there are music and comedy gigs to go to, plays to see, films to watch.  Rugby matches to go and shout at (not just live, but also on TV, with hockey and tennis added into the latter).  And all that takes planning, especially when it comes to the bigger festivals, or when we have guests here to share the experience.

Even in lockdown I was never bored.  Trying to exercise.  Being more creative with the cooking.  Writing more, trying out different hobbies that could be done at home, watching some of the entertainment that was unique to that period, like The Black Isle Correspondent, and the Stand's Saturday Night shows.  

Boredom?  What's that?