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Boredom can have its upsides, writes Neel Burton for the online journal Aeon.
Burton, a psychiatrist and philosopher at the University of Oxford, says “Boredom can be our way of telling ourselves that we are not spending our time as well as we could, that we should be doing something more enjoyable, more useful, or more fulfilling.”
Boredom – when it’s used as a proper tool — can be “an agent of change and progress, a driver of ambition, shepherding us out into larger, greener pastures,” according to Burton.
Therefore, he continues, it could be worth our while to cultivate some degree of boredom, “insofar as it provides us with the preconditions to delve more deeply into ourselves, reconnect with the rhythms of nature, and begin and complete highly focused, long and difficult work.”
Read the full essay here: Boredom is but a window to a sunny day beyond the gloom
In this video, Fr. Mark Miller, CPPS, helps us examine the most pressing issues of the upcoming election, through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. The workshop focuses on issues, not political parties or candidates.
As we gather on the vigil of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, with whom we associate prayers and a lifestyle promoting peace. We gather at a time when there are many parts of our world, and maybe even our own neighborhoods, are not places of peace.