WEEKLY MEDITATION
On Boredom
In so many ways, our addictions stand as an antidote for boredom. Whether it’s the time spent pursuing them, or the emotional state they create, our addictions allow us to circumvent the need to experience boredom. Although difficult to accurately define, boredom is usually experienced as a highly undesirable emotional state. Boredom is felt when devoid of distraction, we are forced to experience the undiluted state of our mental environment. For most people, this is very difficult. Even painful. Under the influence of boredom, we are forced to experience whatever discomfort we still hold within the depths of our psyche. All forms of unhealed trauma, along with their associated emotional symptoms like fear and anxiety, involuntarily rise to the surface of our awareness where we must choose to either deal with them or find further means of avoiding them. At some point in our recovery after we have successfully separated ourselves from the substance or behavior through which our addictions are manifested, we must allow ourselves to safely experience this emotional state that we call boredom. Only through this allowance can we heal whatever it is that naturally arises during this seemingly undesirable state.
