What do you do when you’re bored?

I tried to answer that question and I couldn’t. I think a better question for me would be, “Are you ever bored?”

I used to be. In my teens if I wasn’t out riding my bike or hanging out with a few friends, I’d sit on my parents’ porch in the summer quiet, jammin’ to Earth, Wind and Fire, or Parliament, occasionally getting up to pull weeds, trim a bush, or mow the lawn.  I didn’t know who I was then. And before I could figure out who I was I was married, a momma of children, separated, a momma of teens, and then facing middle age in an empty nest. But along the way I’d figured out a few things.

• Too much socializing drains my energy – Interestingly enough, I discovered this when I was working as a staff writer for the Baltimore AFRO American Newspaper. At one of our company meetings we discovered our Myers-Briggs Personality type, which showed that I was primarily an introvert, more comfortable in smaller more intimate settings – something I’d known all along.
• I love to create – Writing articles, crocheting, drawing, photography; I also love to run, yoga, read, and challenge myself within those interests.
• I feel a calm sense of satisfaction when I combine my personality strengths with what I love to do.

Now, at 56 years old, I don’t feel the sense of boredom that I thought I’d feel at this age. I know who I am: I’m an Aquarian with a dominant introvert trait who loves to keep her hands busy creating. Instead of feeling bored, I find myself wishing for more hours in the day to work on one or more of the many projects that I’m always working on simultaneously.

Like my drawings:

Mandala fun!

My sketch of my granddaughter Lyric

Or, my dotting with paint:

Along with my creative challenges, I also keep myself busy with physical challenges such as deepening my yoga practice, running, the slow progress of my weight training. 🙂 Not to mention my on-going writing challenges that include building up this blog.

I use every second of the hours that I’m awake to write, draw, dot with paint, crochet, practice yoga or craft something to teach my grandchildren. Fortunately, as a nightshift private duty nursing assistant, in between caring for my sleeping patient every two hours, I have plenty of time to create while the rest of the world sleeps – heaven for an introvert like me. And the fact that I enjoy doing so many things means that I always have something to keep me busy.

I’m grateful that I found a path in my life journey that fulfills me and keeps boredom at bay.

The pom-pom rug I’m creating. 🙂