Hello "bored" world. Let's make a change.

How is it going? Bored? Yeah me too.

Which is why I decided to start writing. I guess I needed some platform to put some words "on paper," and this left me rediscovering my "blog" website I made last summer on a whim. Up until this day, I had never followed through and published a thing...Including the website.

But then COVID-19 happened (and continues to happen), so I got my writing juices going. I pushed that "publish" button and wrote up a hello.

So hello! Hi! I do not know who is reading this, but whoever it is, thank you. I hope your days of quarantining are going well. And before you roll your eyes or click off and go watch some more Netflix, I say wait! Yes, I know I just said that buzzword beginning with a "q," but how could I not mention the very reason I am here on my bed writing instead of studying for a Physics test? It is almost a given that I had to bring it up. So really, how is quarantining going?

Because for me, the boredom is sinking in. My house is feeling smaller and smaller as the days go on. My family is getting VERY familiar. I think I have gone on every walk route in my neighborhood. Oh and YouTubers should thank me for the views at this point.

Ironically, just a few weeks ago I was praying for a day to do nothing. Now that I have gotten more than just a day, I am worried I may regret making that prayer. The stresses of January and February have been replaced with an alternate extreme: boredom.

Except we, as a quarantined society of screen-addicts, seem to have convinced ourselves that this "incurable" boredom is completely COVID-19's fault. There is an excuse to be lazy and look at our phones because "there's nothing to do." But then by the end of the day, we realize we have just wasted a lot of time doing nothing. The "I feel pointless" thoughts ensue, and being happy becomes a whole lot harder.

We claim we are so "bored," but what are we doing to get un-bored?

I do not know about you, but I have so many lists of what I could do. These lists are filled of random activities that my brain has decided are "meaningful," or at least more meaningful than the phone scrolling. They include "knock out movies on the movie list," make food from that cookbook you got for your birthday," and "read that book that has been sitting on your bed stand since last November."

Why have I not done those "meaningful" activities?

Maybe it is the effort. Maybe I have gotten too comfortable relaxing on my bed, scrolling endlessly. Maybe I want to watch one more Tik Tok (which eventually ends up being fifty). Maybe *insert another excuse here*.

Maybe I just need to make myself do it.

But that doesn't sound fun! I should not have to make myself do something that I enjoy, right?

Well actually, I have found once I "make" myself start the activity, I end up actually enjoying what I am doing. It is truly only in the getting started that I struggle.

Hence, I make myself...And I do not regret it.

Yes, I still watch the YouTube and the Netflix. Yes, I still scroll on Instagram. However, I also block in time to write (like right now), to call or facetime a friend or family member, to practice a few songs on the piano, to read a book: to do the things that I did not have time for before the dreaded "q" word.

And after I complete that task, learn the new fact, and actually DO the thing, I feel so much better.

The idea of "making" yourself start something is not all that bad. In most cases, it may be the cure to boredom.