On Being Boring

I have a book called The Pocket Muse. It is a book of writing ideas, story starters, and the like. I highly recommend it to writers and other creative types. Occasionally it contains simple advice. I just flipped open to, "You have to be willing to write badly." I wish they meant penmanship, but such is not the case. Now while I do a lot of low-quality writing, I do have a related fear: being boring. 

In one of the essays in Heretics, the great G.K. Chesterton discusses those of us who are boring ("bores") versus the bored. Mr. Chesterton makes a very interesting point: the bores are generally not actually boring at all, but instead embrace a very special beauty that is often overlooked. You have to slow down and take it in. 

When was the last time you drank an entire pot of tea, smoked a pipe, listened to a symphony (which if you are going to do recorded, I certainly hope you would so on vinyl), or literally stopped to smell the roses? For too many of us, we overlook the simple things and shun the process. Why plant a seed and take the time to care for it when you can simply go to the store and buy a tomato? 

I used to be bored most of the time. Then I started to really take in and appreciate the small things and the beauty which God has placed all around me every day. Now what used to bore me is almost overwhelming. 

So here's your homework: stop. Yes, that's it: stop. Think about your life and all the beauty of creation, even just for 5 minutes. Just stop and try to take it all in. Before you speak. Before you do. And before you don't. 

I have a book called The Pocket Muse. It is a book of writing ideas, story starters, and the like. I highly recommend it to writers and other creative types. Occasionally it contains simple advice. I just flipped open to, "You have to be willing to write badly." I wish they meant penmanship, but such is not the case. Now while I do a lot of low-quality writing, I do have a related fear: being boring. 

In one of the essays in Heretics, the great G.K. Chesterton discusses those of us who are boring ("bores") versus the bored. Mr. Chesterton makes a very interesting point: the bores are generally not actually boring at all, but instead embrace a very special beauty that is often overlooked. You have to slow down and take it in. 

When was the last time you drank an entire pot of tea, smoked a pipe, listened to a symphony (which if you are going to do recorded, I certainly hope you would so on vinyl), or literally stopped to smell the roses? For too many of us, we overlook the simple things and shun the process. Why plant a seed and take the time to care for it when you can simply go to the store and buy a tomato? 

I used to be bored most of the time. Then I started to really take in and appreciate the small things and the beauty which God has placed all around me every day. Now what used to bore me is almost overwhelming. 

So here's your homework: stop. Yes, that's it: stop. Think about your life and all the beauty of creation, even just for 5 minutes. Just stop and try to take it all in. Before you speak. Before you do. And before you don't. 

On Being Boring