georgia o’keefe via wikipaintings

Today’s WordPress Daily Prompt asks writers and photographers to show dull, boring; in a word, ‘yawn.’ Since I am rarely bored, I thought it would be instructive to browse through the offerings and see what others named.

One theme running through a number of posts:  when things seem too slow to match the frantic pace by which they live, people admit to boredom. I was struck by the discomfort expressed in the presence of silence, waiting, or the need to slow down. While I can appreciate the clash of expectation and reality, those moments are ones I appreciate in a particularly rushed day. Those are the moments that allow me to stop, breathe, reflect. Whether in line or at the doctor’s office, I am free to just sit with my thoughts. Or people-watch.  Or offer a hand. Prompts, all.

Another theme was people or stories that focus painfully on the teller – people so full of themselves that keeping a pretense of awake in their presence constitutes a major challenge. Since my business is all about listening to others’ stories, I cannot publicly admit to being bored (!). Indeed, some stories capture me more than others. Regardless, I can always ask the teller what they are trying to elicit in the listener. If the pulse in a story throbs only in the mind of the teller, it soon becomes evident even to her/him.

In truth, I can be impatient – with repetition in the face of clear and obvious lack of results; with those who bemoan but refuse to address circumstances within their control; and most of all with my own lack of comprehension when I know at some level that understanding is within my grasp.

But bored? It seems to me that prompts emanate from living, at every turn, from every thing. And I want to catch them, turn them into laughter, beauty, moments to appreciate or hold. There is simply not enough time …