Siena, Italy is abundant in red wine and cookie-flavored gelato. Thick slices of pork and petite wedges of deer meat. Colorful neighborhoods and cobblestone roads… and goats – big and little, horned and hornless, and a little grey goat. I met this intriguing group of creatures on an afternoon stroll I originally embarked on due to boredom.
The pamphlets, stories, videos and seminars convince potential travelers that the oversea adventures never stop. Irish beer, the Athenian Acropolis and Charles Bridge tantalize our thoughts. Great expectations take root in the brain and flourish into an uncontrollable frenzy of activity. It’s possible to be bored while studying abroad. In 2012 a study from York University, psychologists stated: “Boredom is universally conceptualized as the aversive experience of wanting, but being unable to engage in satisfying activity.”
About a month into my journey last fall, I sat on my faded floral bedspread surrounded by cream-colored walls, opened my miniature planner and gazed at nothing. For the first time in my life, an empty to-do list stared at me. Instead of feeling the sweet release of relaxation, I felt frustrated and anxious. No homework, job, internship, obligations, chores or travel plans presented themselves to me. I felt like an addict going through withdrawals – a busybody addict.
A jumble of thoughts freely took advantage of my unoccupied mind and told me I should have a task. I should be doing something. I should be busy. I should be constantly traveling while abroad… and then a beautiful question popped into my head: Says who? No one is going to arrest me for not being busy. A law about maintaining an endless to-do list does not exist. So, I embraced my boredom and in accepting my current state of being, I automatically felt satisfied.
Still resting on my narrow bed, I let my mind wander and think about anything it wanted to. I had never felt so in tune to myself. Curious ideas, interesting realizations and odd dreams introduced themselves to me. An entire book called Autopilot: the Art and Science of Doing Nothing celebrates inactivity. The author, Andrew Smart, who studied brain imaging and data analysis, argued, “what comes into your consciousness when you are idle can often be reports from the depths of your unconscious self and through idleness great ideas buried in your unconscious have the chance to enter your awareness.”
The “I have to be busy” notion is a man-made and societal construct that we have forced upon ourselves. Constantly multitasking or planning for that next event prevents us from understanding our innate desires. Think about when someone asks you: “What do you like to do in your free time?” In my experience, I can answer that question when it concerns my best friend, but I struggle to respond with my own hobbies because I simply don’t know. I have not taken the time to listen to myself.
Thus, in an Italian apartment with a broken door knob, I stopped being busy and partook in a “conversation” with myself. Instead of trying to control my thoughts, I let my thoughts control the creative process and take me where they wandered. Boredom is frightening because it involves inactivity and not being busy is a concept that many try to avoid. Multitasking fools us into believing that we are purposeful people engaging in productive activities. Consequently, a lack of multiple pursuits is defined as lazy. But, as I embraced my boredom, I realized what I wanted to do in that very moment: walk.
I met a lively group of people from Venice who couldn’t speak a word of English so we talked through nods and smiles. I found a beautiful garden and a green meadow where I later returned to with a soccer ball. I stumbled upon a new gelato shop that served hazelnut and blueberry flavors. And for one hour, I sat in the middle of the Piazza del Campo and wrote in my travel journal.
Who would have thought that I would experience so much because of a small instance of boredom?