The human mind is driven by action, we get ourselves involved in all sort of activities in order to ensure we keep moving and our minds occupied, we are referred to as social animals. We humans are individuals with different personalities, while some people prefer to just remain idle and watch everything else around them move on without even flinching. They have found ways to make their mind comfortable with idleness, inactivity has become an attitude for them and then we have people like me with super active minds. My mind is like those olding days train that operates on coal, as you go on a journey you have to keep shoveling coal in it in order to ensure that the train maintains its speed and remains active.
Idleness is like a nemesis of mine, it drives me insane. It is not as if I have to keep doing something all the time like a machine. I also rest just like every other human, the only difference is that from the moment I'm awake my mind start searching for what to do like a predator in search of prey. It is never an issue till I encounter situation whereby I have to remain idle. For those who have ever been in a situation such as searching for a job, in order to be punctual you decided to arrive at the venue about 30 minutes early. Being the early bird means you have to seat in the reception and watch everything unfold slowly but since it was a choice of yours to arrive earlier than expected you won't be able to complain to anyone.
Sitting in the long hall people start arriving one after the other and you are already pissed for their lateness. The feeling that sets in first is the feeling of helplessness and gradually you become extremely anxious while you watch the clock moving slowly than usual, I mean at that moment it is not as if time is actually moving slowly but since you are in so much hurry to get rid of the boredom that comes with being idle for a long period of time, every minutes moves like like an hour the unphysical pain that comes with the uneasiness can't be defined with words, you find yourself being pained and anxious for a reason you can't actually explain.
This little example explains what idleness or boredom does to my mind, it took me awhile to figure it out but eventually I did. I had to put myself up for self evaluation and study it carefully to understand it and find the most appropriate thing to keep my mind busy when I have no physical activities to engage in. It is annoying to feel uneasy and tormented by your own mind for no reason, I have seen people start doing unnecessary work just to get rid of boredom, it is quite funny but every human react to boredom in different ways and also some choose to engage in sport, most especially football. Well that isn't an option for me, I have a stature of an athlete but I barely I engage in sporty activities. Then you might be wondering what exactly do you then?
How do I cope with boredom? Well my own boredom is kind of different, I get bored when I don't have any physical activities to engage in or anything to keep my mind occupied but there has never been a time when I never had nothing to think about, something will definitely cross my mind. In the absence of nothing to keep my mind occupied, all sort of weird thoughts will start running through my head, things buried in my subconscious. It happens to every human when they are bored but my mind is super active, so my thoughts can be intense at times.
For me, the best solution to cope with the situation is music, specifically gentle music. Most people don't really know how powerful a beautiful lyrics mixed with the right sounds can be. To me it is like a drug that calms my mind and assist me in Putting my thoughts together. My first option used to be games and it still is to an extent but there is a limited duration I can play games for before eyes gets teary due to the screentime but for music, it is not something that has any effect on my eyes. When I listen to music, not those noisy ones, my mind focuses on the sounds and lyrics and gently I'm overcome by the new found silence.
For me silence is a rare thing and something I so much cherish, not just a silent environment but a silent mind, having nothing in mind to think about just silence and nothing more. The funny thing about me is that I can play a song on repeat for hours without having to change the song or move an inch. I mean I wouldn't want to switch to another song that would disrupt the rhythm that has created silence in my mind, So occasionally when my mind is tired of listening to the same sound and lyrics which rarely happens, I already created a playlist on my music app for songs with similar rhythm, so even if I have to switch to another song it wouldn't disrupt the silence.
Boredom is something that makes me feel a little bit uneasy depending on the duration, that why I once said I can't afford to get locked up in a place for a long period of time, it will drive me insane. That is why I so much detest captivity with nothing to do. At the end of it all when the rhythm hits a good spot and my head is clear enough, my mind becomes filled with energy and words which usually prompt me to write poems. Whatever poem or article I find myself writing at that moment becomes a masterpiece, I mean what else is expected from a man that writes with a clear mind. That is how powerful music is for me and it works wonders in situations I find myself struggling with boredom.
Right this moment I'm listening to a song, as I lie in an empty space, putting my pen to work, it assist me in collating my thoughts and focus on a single thing which is writing. They say music is therapeutic but you would never know till you try, just in case you are curious about the kind of music I'm referring to, here it is.
Will Cookson - Alone in the dark.
Hope it helps 🤗.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "The idle mind" in hive learners community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
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