Episode 20: Are You Bored Yet? Boredom as Creative FuelEpisode 20: Are You Bored Yet? Boredom as Creative Fuel

This month we explore how boredom and tedium can help with the creative process. Do you get your best ideas while washing the dishes or walking the dog? There's a reason for that.

Our minds need to associate freely between ideas, thoughts, and memories. But when we consciously try to direct our attention to create, often the associations don't come. Science says we often need to be distracted just enough for the creative mind to shift into gear.

Resources:

Why Being Bored May Not Be Bad: A Study

Article: The Unexpected Value of Boredom for Well-Being and Creativity

Bored and Brilliant, by Manoush Zomorodi

Creative Quest, by Quest Love

Kevin suggests: Read a memoir written by a creator, artist, writer, comic creator, etc. Not a biography, and not ghost written, but a personal memoir by the creator. Reading about the lives of other creatives can unlock your own. If you need an example, I recommend Upstream by poet Mary Oliver.

John Recommended: The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by Rick Rubin

Note: book links are affiliate links to Bookshop.org via Modern Folklore Press. Bookshop and Modern Folklore Press support local, independent bookstores.

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