entitled “The Most Important Thing Nobody Taught You”. It starts,
…we can’t help but run from the problems of our emotions into the false comforts of the mind.
When I read this, I exhaled a deep whistle in response. I can relate.
It goes on to talk about how solitude doesn’t mean you have to feel alone.
How we spend so much time in the act of distracting ourselves and trying to be inspired, that we forget the most inspiring and stimulating experiences happen when we’re alone.
Boredom should become a place to discover self-knowledge, do some reflecting and experience the world around us in greater, slower detail. To feel more alive and connected.
Interestingly, the main culprit isn’t our obsession with any particular worldly stimulation. It’s the fear of nothingness — our addiction to a state of not-being-bored. We have an instinctive aversion to simply being.
Even if you’ve considered this before, or attended a yoga class or have done some meditation, we can all benefit from a repeated revisitation of the idea.
I think part of it is that people don’t realize there is a possibility to simply be. That there is something that exists beyond the realm of our real world melodramas.
I’m attempting to not sound like a preacher here, but to communicate thoughts and also do some reflecting of my own:
Why do I keep losing sight of myself? Well, idiot, it’s because you’re not paying attention. You’re not looking at yourself. Step back, try to be alone from time to time and carry a mirror.
Erin Benton 