...if you're bored then you're boring
I've definitely been bored at times over the last four months - no pub, no coffee shop, no full English breakfast, no grandkids - and that's why I started blogging. So that I would be less bored. Am I therefore boring? I worry about that now, although there is certainly a case for saying that the lyrics of rock songs are often ridiculous (rather like opera, now I come to think of it) and shouldn't be taken seriously.
But I take everything I come across seriously so I thought I'd explore literature of various kinds to see what others had to say about boredom.
Before that, I should tell you - because you are fellow explorers and will insist on knowing - that Harvey Danger were an alternative rock band. I don't know what that means; their music sounds punkish to me but there are (younger) members of my family who would know better than I. Flagpole Sitta was used as the theme tune for a British sitcom called Peep Show. Never heard of that either. But, as with everything, you can check out this song on YouTube.
OK, that's out of the way, added to my knowledge of life, the universe and everything but almost certainly never to be revisited. Although one day it might be useful in a pub quiz.
[Ed: NIgel, so far you are demonstrating exactly Harvey's point]
The American novelist Zelda Fitzgerald gives us this:
“She refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn't boring.”
Which actually is not dissimilar to Harvey's line.
The comedian Louis C. K. tells us:
“I’m bored’ is a useless thing to say. I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless; it goes on forever, inwardly, do you understand? The fact that you’re alive is amazing, so you don’t get to say ‘I’m bored.”
OK C. K., I'm sorry I said it. Forgive.
Another American novelist Maria Semple has a rather worrying take on it:
“That's right,' she told the girls. 'You are bored. And I'm going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it's boring now? Well, it only gets more boring."
Albert Camus is also in negative mode:
“The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits.”
But I'm going to finish on a positive note, from Susan Cain:
“...I also believe that introversion is my greatest strength. I have such a strong inner life that I’m never bored and only occasionally lonely. No matter what mayhem is happening around me, I know I can always turn inward.”
Ah now, that's definitely me. Always seeking the inner truths. And you, dear reader, if you've got this far in this ramble, you are definitely not boring.
Harvey, you're wrong.
I reckon most of us have been a bit bored over the last five months. But thinking about it, it’s frustration rather than boredom. No art galleries, no trips to town, no history society, no industrial history society, no group walks with an informative leader, no parish life, neighbours at double arms length, holidays cancelled, and frustration at not having the skills to accomplish the grandiose projects to keep boredom / frustration at bay. As for the final quote, not many of us are called to the contemplative life.
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