In a sense nothing has happened and won't do for a while yet. How long that remains so I don't know but there's a surreal limbo while I wait.
It all sounds a bit melodramatic; I'll probably forget about it completely after a few days; the longer it goes the more distant it will become.
At least I'll get a nice surprise when it's finally ready to collect.
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.
”The network effect is like a kind of tyranny all to its own. It makes platforms like Facebook seem like nonnegotiable requirements for living and communicating in the modern world.”
If it wasn’t for family I would have deleted my Facebook account years ago. I wish I could but sometimes it’s the only way to do certain things.
Facebook is like a massive convenience store that does everything worse than artisans but all under the same roof so we opt for ease over excellence until the artisans are driven from the market.
We bemoan the lack of choice but it is our own fault and the cost of re-entry is prohibitive.
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.