Despair is born at the precise, pitiful moment you realize your life has become a long surrender to cheap dopamine. That your every choice has favored the path of least resistance. That your words and actions have drifted miles apart. That your feet have not once trod the road less taken. It’s at that moment you realize that hell is not a destination, but a sorrowful way of living. The only way out is Kierkegaard’s leap of faith — get moving!
Don't you find it strange that in our perusal of galleries on social media, the idea of getting bored is encouraged so as to find that insightful idea in your field, and yet, you talk about boredom in a different light?
Your message is clear. However, as for the tweets, notes, or brief posts that encourage people to be comfortable with boredom, I have never subscribed to that idea. You need to be passionately obsessed with a problem. Boredom doesn't inject potential pathways into your subconscious.
As you've said, there must be a wound. Indeed, a desire to raise one's bar, to solve a deep problem, to find a bug in a code is not boredom. Passion allows us to fall for a "Vermeer".
As always, I have to sit down to read your work. 🥂
Why is there just one comment for this post while there are 45+ ❤️? This is what I've never understood in Substack. This is such an insightful post and I am sharing this with many I know and would appreciate such profound writing in such a simple and coherent manner. Kudos! Totally related to the analogy. And loved the way you presented the concept. What hit me most was Self = Circular. Other = Linear. Bravo! Will be back for more. Thank you for such a thoughtful read. Keep writing. Keep sharing. Keep going.
I’m bored because I am so deeply disassociated with American life. The reality of our current state is too cruel and corrupt to emotionally comprehend.
Beautifully said, Sherry. I love what you've written because it encapsulates how I felt coming home from work for many years. I would go on my phone, scroll, and hope to feel some sense of achievement without actually having achieved anything. Your post has motivated me to get back on my feet and try again.
Beautifully put. What your piece made me think about is how boredom itself is almost a first-world luxury. A symptom of lives cushioned from real threat or necessity.
When life is full of immediacy, purpose, or even survival pressure, you don’t get the space to feel bored. This is most of the developing world.
It’s an interesting lens on why modern restlessness feels so heavy despite all our comfort.
Beautifully written, it really becomes more and more about enjoying the heaviness of love and letting oneself go. Losing oneself in a passion seems easy from the outside for others when it does not come naturally to us it makes it harder to approach. Consuming stories about engaging in one passion. Resisting the heaviness causes the unpleasantness. Trying to transform the heaviness too fast causes burnout. But falling with it, acknowledging it makes things worth it. We are looking for fast transformation and short cuts, we end up circling in funny loops instead of falling forward
Despair is born at the precise, pitiful moment you realize your life has become a long surrender to cheap dopamine. That your every choice has favored the path of least resistance. That your words and actions have drifted miles apart. That your feet have not once trod the road less taken. It’s at that moment you realize that hell is not a destination, but a sorrowful way of living. The only way out is Kierkegaard’s leap of faith — get moving!
Don't you find it strange that in our perusal of galleries on social media, the idea of getting bored is encouraged so as to find that insightful idea in your field, and yet, you talk about boredom in a different light?
Your message is clear. However, as for the tweets, notes, or brief posts that encourage people to be comfortable with boredom, I have never subscribed to that idea. You need to be passionately obsessed with a problem. Boredom doesn't inject potential pathways into your subconscious.
As you've said, there must be a wound. Indeed, a desire to raise one's bar, to solve a deep problem, to find a bug in a code is not boredom. Passion allows us to fall for a "Vermeer".
As always, I have to sit down to read your work. 🥂
I love Sherry Ning’s newsletter and have never been bored
Great Words, thank you! I´ll keep moving and searching until i find what I love, or until it finds me
Why is there just one comment for this post while there are 45+ ❤️? This is what I've never understood in Substack. This is such an insightful post and I am sharing this with many I know and would appreciate such profound writing in such a simple and coherent manner. Kudos! Totally related to the analogy. And loved the way you presented the concept. What hit me most was Self = Circular. Other = Linear. Bravo! Will be back for more. Thank you for such a thoughtful read. Keep writing. Keep sharing. Keep going.
Beautiful work! I love how you combine real life elements with the theoretical.
The algorithm did its job today and seemingly answered my thoughts. Thank you for this piece. This was, for me, a true portal.
inner peace is never a scroll away
I’m bored because I am so deeply disassociated with American life. The reality of our current state is too cruel and corrupt to emotionally comprehend.
Beautifully said, Sherry. I love what you've written because it encapsulates how I felt coming home from work for many years. I would go on my phone, scroll, and hope to feel some sense of achievement without actually having achieved anything. Your post has motivated me to get back on my feet and try again.
Beautifully written! 4:44¡
Beautifully put. What your piece made me think about is how boredom itself is almost a first-world luxury. A symptom of lives cushioned from real threat or necessity.
When life is full of immediacy, purpose, or even survival pressure, you don’t get the space to feel bored. This is most of the developing world.
It’s an interesting lens on why modern restlessness feels so heavy despite all our comfort.
Amazing again Sherry!
Beautifully written, it really becomes more and more about enjoying the heaviness of love and letting oneself go. Losing oneself in a passion seems easy from the outside for others when it does not come naturally to us it makes it harder to approach. Consuming stories about engaging in one passion. Resisting the heaviness causes the unpleasantness. Trying to transform the heaviness too fast causes burnout. But falling with it, acknowledging it makes things worth it. We are looking for fast transformation and short cuts, we end up circling in funny loops instead of falling forward
"People are using each other to benefit themselves"
aren't humans supposed to lean on each other? is it using? how do we use humans?
"Love and Death...they go hand in hand", Ebo Taylor