“THE PHONE GIVES US A LOT BUT IT TAKES AWAY THREE KEY ELEMENTS OF DISCOVERY: LONELINESS, UNCERTAINTY, AND BOREDOM. THOSE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WHERE CREATIVE IDEAS COME FROM.” by Lynda Barry (Quotes & Quandaries)

I’m devouring my third book by Austin Kleon ( Keep Going) and find myself stopping at every half-page to breathe and reflect on what he’s shared there. My wife and I have repeatedly commented upon, discussed, even argued about our habits… often they are in the form of our great time. wasters and connection killers: TV & Social Media!!! This quote pulls me into reflecting on a new argument for breaking our habits.

1 – Loneliness: Being mentally tired after a long day’s work, or being foggy-headed and focused on taking care of our morning routines shouldn’t replace taking the relatively few minutes of our day to sit, face-to-face and share a meal. There are days that conversation feels forced and “I” might be feeling disconnected and lonely from the lack of comfortable conversation… This can be a perfect opportunity to push conversation on all sorts of things. They don’t have to be deep. I’d like to think they are just a way to restart the engine that connected us in the first place… My intention would be to show genuine interest. I believe that intention will be communicated.

2 – Uncertainty: Well, this is a fine can of worms to open, isn’t. it? Silence and doing distraction do not invite connection. Let’s be honest here, there are a great many things we like to waste time watching that others just don’t give. a fig about. In my opinion, we often find ourselves wondering what the heck is so fascinating to them and why are we not more fascinating than say, yet another make-up how to video… Even if I am expressing my own feelings here, I’m relatively confident in human psychology to say we all have certain similar needs (Thank you Maslow’s hierarchy of needs). Feeling loved, appreciated, understood fits in there somewhere! Maybe allowing ourselves to be pulled away from the company we keep should only be happening when we are not in their company!

3 – Boredom: I’m pretty sure Could launch into a new series of exploratory essays on boredom. For me, boredom is a pause to reflect on priorities, passions, resources… it allows introspection into what we feel like doing next, a choice to push ourselves into creative discomfort, or into deciding our next distraction. I think it’s safety. say we’ve all been bored of at least one conversation in our lives, but, and this is my experience, there. are very few boring conversations when they are in the form of an engaged dialogue, unfettered by external distractions (eg/ TV & social media).

So, coming full circle-ish, surface to face, share a meal or drink, and allow connection, certainty, and engagement to grow!