# I've not been feeling very creative the past couple of days and I'm not entirely sure why. So I've actually cracked open a notebook and grabbed a pen to see if the change in approach will help.
Certainly, being tired due to illness is one factor but I think I'm also getting bored with what I consume online and this is having a knock-on effect with what I create.
Or don't!
Discovery is still a massive problem; I find myself removing more feeds from my reader than I add which leaves me less, and with less variety, to go through.
Micro.blog has definitely been a help here as I have found a number of bloggers via this route but, still being in beta with a limited population, it is not inexhaustible.
I'm bored with reading a lot of the same old rubbish from the tech press as it continues its race to the bottom in the pursuit of page views and ad impressions; I definitely need to expand my horizons beyond my usual areas and approaches.
I've been considering doing an online course, or at least making a start, while I'm still signed off. Something to pique my curiosity, keep me interested, and actually make me feel I like I'm not wasting time while being ill.
I think that's part of the problem.
Although my primary focus has to be getting better it is largely just a question of time rather than anything specific on my part. I feel that these past weeks could have been put to better use.
I don't know how much longer I'm going to be off (my next appointment is in a week) but I should really be more productive instead of letting the days pass me by with little to show for them.
And I definitely need to improve my handwriting.
First: I hope you will get better soon.
Second: Being bored is normal from time to time. I was content exhausted the last months, more and more thoughts like "why should I post / write / post photos" came up. And so I stopped posting, deleted my (read-only) twitter and my instagram account just to see what will happen. I found out that public posting was just a short term happiness, that made me to consume more and more and enjoy less. So after a little hard time of accepting boredom interest in reading came back (also triggered by micro.blog conversations). I write more letters again, and I got more interested in some things / topics that I really enjoy. (And I heard some podcasts, radio features and talks about art and creativity - they all said that boredom or doing nothing is part of the process. So, no pressure).
And get well soon.
Thanks Michael, appreciate it.
I agree, boredom does come in cycles and we have to find a way out of it, although that’s sometimes easier said than done.
This is why I want to mix things up a bit.
@colinwalker a bit of boredom is good for you perhaps.
@johnjohnston Maybe, but I think I’d like getting excited excited by raindrops falling and the cornflakes at breakfast time. ?
In response to yesterday's post John linked to a piece on "what boredom does to you" saying that maybe it's good for me. A line in the piece says imagine if we didn't get bored:
"Boredom is the gateway to mind-wandering" but there is a fugue state beyond it where the mind is unable to explore, to stray from the path. I look at the streams of photographers who take pictures of seemingly innocuous things but something has prompted them to do so. A shape, a colour, a pattern, the juxtaposition of incongruous objects. They look upon the mundane with a sense of wonder. They find beauty among the relentless grey of urban sprawl. They are amazed by the minutiae of everything around them. But this is a state of mind, one I used to occupy but am presently unable to reinhabit. I want to be excited by the shapes and colours of cornflakes at breakfast time. I want to be transfixed by the sounds and patterns of falling rain. I want to, once again, find beauty among the madness.
@colinwalker touché agree on raindrops. Cornflakes no so much.