The Guilt of Boredom
By: Stuart Cartland
Tags: Individualism, Boredom, Identity, Consumerism

The socially constructed narrative of being an unproductive individual:

Boredom has become a critique of self in that we individualise it as a condition of ourselves. It is to be avoided as it identifies a sense of individualised and internalised failure.

As we start to see the end of social distancing and self-isolation (again) many of us have been struggling with the dread of boredom however, we need to understand why we view it as a negative phenomenon and why we often use it as self-reflection about ourselves. Moreover, this unique situation that we have been through may prove to be a pivotal moment in how we can change how we view ourselves, each other and most importantly how we view society and our place within it.

Identity is an illusion or rather as an all encompassing and defining quality, yet its certainty is absent and ever changing within a shifting wider social and cultural context. Throughout recent history we have become increasingly separated off into atomised pockets of individual existence where we are increasingly defined and judged by our own self-interests, what we do, what we produce (in terms of employment) or what we consume, however many of us experience a sense of detachment from ourselves and even a fear of being alone or at least, a deep sense of being uncomfortable alone with oneself. Therefore boredom challenges self-identification and self- value or worth in our over-stimulated world where overwhelming demands are increasingly placed upon the individual.

We consume ready-made ways of living and thinking, yet boredom can be symptomatic of the failures of these forms of existence and being. We internalise these deficiencies rather than resist or challenge the social and cultural frameworks we inhabit and exist within. Hopefully this may be one of the many changes to come out of the crisis that we have been through and with this in mind, this has the ability to change our social, economic and political world. Although, ‘business as usual’ or ‘back to normal’ being the dominant mantra as we exit a pandemic induced changed world, but this is not what we should be hoping for in this sense.

Our world and our existences require fundamental, structural change. Massive inequalities, environmental catastrophe and increasing individual isolation are amongst the many social, cultural and economic crises that have been laid bare by the global health pandemic. However, how we view our existence, purpose and worth can be linked to a sense of value we place upon what we do and what we identify with. In this regard, boredom disrupts certainty and challenges forms of individual security of self including notions of purpose. It is anxiety inducing and it can prompt existential crises of self often linked to experiential lack of meaning within modern life patterns where subjective dissatisfaction and disaffection have become universal (if not deeply denied or suppressed). It also challenges who we perceive ourselves to be. In this sense boredom is often registered as individualised deficiency yet it is a condition of our hyper-stimulated hyper-reality where we are increasingly dislocated from meaningful social experience. We increasingly expect to be constantly entertained (often in the most mundane and banal ways) however this leaves us ill-prepared to cope outside of this.

Particularly the rapid developments we have witnessed since the establishment of the nation-state and modern social and cultural life patterns including industrialisation and consumerism have wrenched us from more communal forms of existence whilst conversely information, activities and experience have become increasingly commodified, abstract, predictable yet also detached from individual or group creativity of mind. We increasingly passively consume rather than actively participate or create, in a way this therefore has made boredom both inevitable and more specifically a condition of our time irrespective of enforced time to be with or by ourselves. Yet paradoxically, often when we are with others we are still alone as individually atomised beings only coming together to discuss dissatisfaction with how unfulfilled the final episode of Line of Duty made us feel!

Never the less, the key point here is that boredom can often equate to a sense of guilt, a guilt rooted within the Protestant work-ethic of an existence defined by work and a constructive meaningful existence but also by a neoliberal sense of consumption as identity formation. Therefore if we are not actively consuming (be it binge watching the latest boxset on Netflix, shopping, listening to music or even reading a magazine) we are inactive agents whose existence can quickly become challenged or disrupted. The health pandemic may have been the disruption and break we need to recognise and reorganise our perceptions of ourselves and our very existence, that consumption is not identity and production is not worth.

Life can easily become meaningless or purposeless outside of our consumer and ready-made structures of experience of homogenised repetitive sameness and predictable experience. This can easily create a sense of detachment, monotony and anonymity. However in times of unprecedented disruption to our taken-for-granted social experiences and social structures this experience may well prove to be a rude awakening given the enforced circumstances we are finding ourselves situated within. It may even make us aware of how reliant and depended we have become to be away from ourselves when we are seemingly forced back in past familiar social situations.

Indeed, we often seek authenticity or legitimacy through actions and experience and this ultimately means avoiding boredom. This often results in us looking back to the past to non-boring moments or feelings to relive or recreate an identity secure form a sense of boredom. This may relate to a society increasingly obsessed with nostalgia but also in a wider sense as a society we increasingly looking back instead of toward a future of positive possibilities.

Boredom has arguably become a critique of self in that we individualise it as a condition of ourselves. It is to be avoided as it identifies a sense of individualised and internalised failure. Boredom disrupts certainty and challenges forms of individual security of self, indeed, I am sure that it is not unique that many of us have experienced existential crises of some degree throughout the long periods of lockdown and isolation that we have endured. This can be anxiety inducing as it can prompt existential crises of self, worth and direction. It challenges who we perceive ourselves to be not just to ourselves but also to others. In this sense boredom suggests a negative reflection upon our own lives. We often increasingly recognise or self-identify by what we do, what we consume or our leisure activities and a state of boredom negatively challenges us in this sense. This particular and peculiar moment with find ourselves within is certainly going to force some individual reflection, this is a moment however for us to reacquaint ourselves with ourselves and to shed some of those fears of being bored. Moreover, boredom doesn’t really exist. It is the labelling of time not filled with what we think we should be or could be doing whereas time to ourselves is something we could cherish particularly away from the inner sense of a need to be constructive within the confines of our socio-economic existences. So it’s fine, be bored if you want to call it that, but don’t feel guilty. Maybe even try to really not do something and see how long you can last and how that makes you feel, you never know, you might even get to know someone a little better- yourself!