Blog Post #19: Boredom is the Key

When I was in high school, I liked to watch Youtube videos before going to bed. It was my way of stealing some time for myself before shutting my eyes for the night. But these days, I find that I can’t get through a single Youtube video before bed. For one, I have a hard time sticking with one video and often scroll in search of a new video before the current one has finished. And two, my eyes get tired from watching the screen. So these days, when I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts in my dark room, I turn on an audiobook. I’m currently listening to Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, by Hwang Boreum. The book is set in South Korea, and my friend from South Korea said that apparently it’s a book that’s supposed to help cure burnout. I’m not sure if that’s true, but I can see it. Listening to the book reminds me of the feeling I had when I was little, and our house was quiet- my mom would be napping, my sister reading somewhere upstairs. I think sometimes people fear those in-between moments, the quiet moments. I used to fear them because that’s when my most negative thoughts would seep in. Sometimes I’m still afraid. I would scramble to fill those spaces with screen time. But now, I let myself sit. I let myself get bored. Those moments make the other moments just a little more interesting, the leaves greener, and the whimsical ideas in my brain into adventures.