“the being part of us is what… is lost when we're doing all of the ‘doing’ part.” -Shirley Owens
Oftentimes, we think that by sitting idly by and doing nothing we are not being productive. We feel that we’re losing precious opportunities, ventures, resources, and time. However, even more precious than these is losing our beingness. Hectic schedules and busy days turn us on autopilot. Shirley’s reflection on her convo with Michael Neeley highlights the importance and the need for humans to slow down, ‘be bored’, and really connect with themselves, even just for a moment. Join in and discover the amazing power of boredom.
Highlights:
00:29 Boredom is a Buddy
01:30 The Nonstop Going-Doing Routine of Humans
02:20 Just Sit in Silence
03:20 Get a Mindset Shift on Boredom
04:28 Set a Time to be ‘Bored’
Tweets:
Getting bored once in a while is not a negative thing. In fact, it is a human need, especially in this fast paced world. Tune in as @SfbaldwinOwens reflects on her conversation with Michael Neeley. #boredom #autopilot #busy #slowdown #feel #beingness
Quotes:
03:06 “people want to fill their mind and so they're filling it with outside stimuli.” -Shirley Owens
04:20 “the being part of us is what… is lost when we're doing all of the ‘doing’ part.” -Shirley Owens
05:37 “A lot of times we don't want to feel because there might be something painful, or something stressful, or just something that we just don't want to feel.” -Shirley Owens
Connect With Michael :
Michael Neeley is a Business Mentor and Strategist for visionary solopreneurs. He is also a former professional actor and Medieval Knight. His interest in conscious development and humanity has led him to take coaching as a profession. Michael is also the host of the top-rated podcast, Consciously Speaking and the previously launched, Buy This- Not That Podcast. He is big on expanding impact by building on authority and leadership in any community. For Michael, waking up the planet and helping others do the same, is a path he must take on.
Transcriptions
Shirley Owens: Hello and welcome back. Today is Christmas Eve, and it's raining outside, and I've just been sitting here planning my day and just thinking about the hecticness of the season. And so I thought this is the perfect thing to reflect on after my convo with Michael Neeley. And one of the things that we touched on in the very end actually was talking about boredom, and he was saying how we need to get used to boredom. And I think that it's so true. I think about my little kids and even my dog, he can't sit still for five minutes. He is a Boston Terrier, so that pretty much makes some sense. But he can't just sit there. He can't just chill out. He has to be chewing something, or getting into something, or running around the house. And I feel like he kind of reminds me of our world right now and how people are just going, going, going, doing, doing, doing all day every day. And I've just been thinking about our last couple of weeks and we've been doing the same thing. We've just been, I went to New York and I've been just pretty much going, just nonstop that we really haven't had a minute to be bored. And bored seems like such a negative word, but I remember when my older kids were little and I would say: "If you're bored, I can give you something to do." Like, I'll give you a chore, or there's so many things to do. And so we just kind of got to a place where bored wasn't a word that we used in our house, and I really see more and more in the world where we have podcasts, we have books on tape. It used to be that we have the radio, but I think even more now with all of this information, that's just like a constant stimuli and a constant inflow that we really very rarely just sit in silence, not even meditation, although sitting in silence really is a form of meditation.
But taking a drive, going to pick up the kids from school, or running to the store, or going to work, I think people want to fill their minds and so they're feeling it with outside stimuli.
“people want to fill their mind and so they're filling it with outside stimuli.” -Shirley Owens
So I wanted to really kind of dive in a little bit today into boredom, or into really making a mindset shift about boredom, and how important it is to get to a place where everything is turned off, autopilot's off, the sounds are off, the podcasts are off, the online books are off, the radio is off, and you're just sitting in your own quiet and in your own thoughts. That is the only place where you can truly just be with yourself. And I hear some of my kids say, Oh, I can't do homework unless I have the radio playing in the background. Or you know, it's just this just constant go, go, go, do, do, do. And we forget a lot about being, and Michael and I talked a little bit about ontology too. And human beings are, I like to separate the human from the being. And being part of us is what I feel is lost when we're doing all of the doing part.
“the being part of us is what… is lost when we're doing all of the ‘doing’ part.” -Shirley Owens
And so, I want my listeners to think about how often do you just sit in silence and allow yourself to think, to feel, to dream, to imagine, to do nothing, to just sit in a place where the world would call boredom and that is just really doing nothing. And if you haven't done it in awhile, do it. Maybe set, I don't know, 15 or 20 minutes aside, or maybe set aside one of your drives and see what it feels like to just sit in that silence and to allow yourself to slow down, to just slow your entire world around you down. Maybe ground yourself. Look inward, look outward. What's around you? What colors are there? What are you hearing? What are you seeing? What are you feeling? I think a lot of times we don't want to feel because there might be something painful, or something stressful, or just something that we just don't want to feel.
“A lot of times we don't want to feel because there might be something painful, or something stressful, or just something that we just don't want to feel.” -Shirley Owens
And so, when we're constantly going and doing, we don't have to fail, we don't have to assess ourselves, we don't have to look inward, but I would love to know what your experiences of doing just that. Sit in silence, get in touch with your own senses, like all of them. What are you smelling? What are you seeing? What is the world just doing around you? I love rainy days like today because for some reason it just quiets the house, it's a little bit darker, a little bit.
Well, it smells different outside, and there's a different sound, and even though rain may be noisy, it kind of quiets everything else around it, so I love that. Today is the day that I chose to do the reflection on this because I think that it really, one, it's Christmas tomorrow and this is the season of hustle, hustle, hustle, when in a way it could be the season of slow down, gather people around you, gather your loved ones, feel the spirit of whatever it is that you're feeling whether it's a religious, or spiritual, or whatever it is, just what are you feeling, gather the people around you, love, feel, see, just be instead of do. So that's my reflection for today and I hope that everyone will take the time to do that and to just see what comes up for you. As always, you can go to my website and contact me through there, or Facebook, or Instagram, and I would love to hear your thoughts or your experience of your boredom this week. Maybe it's not this week, maybe it's next week, or maybe something happened last week where you did that. But I want to know what silence felt like for you, what it sounded like, what it smelled like, what it looked like, and I want to know what it just felt like to slow your world down. So I hope we can all take time to do that this week, and thanks so much for being my listeners. I'm so grateful. My podcast is getting, it's spreading, it's now in Canada, the UK, Morocco, France, Australia. I have a great friend that has connected me through Facebook, and she's in Australia, and I just love her, and I've never met her, but through all of this, I've been able to connect with her, and it's been so much fun getting to know people all over the world. So thank you all. I'm so grateful for you. I love you. I hope you have an amazing holiday season. I hope that everything that you wish for and want for this time in your life comes true and that we are all able to create an amazing 2020. Love to you all and see you next week.
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