A Reunion With Boredom By Charles Simic

In recent discussions of A Reunion With Boredom, a controversial issue has been whether teens get bored with electronics or if it is our choice to be bored. On the one hand, teens have a whole range of things to do on computers ranging from social media to reading to drawing. From this perspective, I do not agree with teens who get bored with electronics. On the other hand, however, it is our choice if we get bored or not. There are many other things we can do besides laying in bed and getting bored. In the words of Charles Simic, one of his main proponents is, “people are forgetting to put down the electronics and step outside.” According to this view, kids use their time inside and communicate with devices rather than going outside and actually
Unlike doing something or having a career, boredom is about the time you have with yourself and your thoughts. I asked my roommate another question, “Do you think boredom is a choice?” Her response was, “Yes, it is a choice. We choose to be bored. We choose to do the things we want to do. We could easily go outside and take a walk around the neighborhood instead of laying around and complaining.” In doing so, that will give us the time we need to decompress our thoughts and have alone time that we need with ourselves. With technology these days, we do not get to have that experience. We get so distracted by the television or the next ad that pops up on our youtube videos. We need to take time to be bored and just decompress our thoughts.
When you are in the boredom stage, time tends to move slow and that is all you have got on your hands. Time. I asked my roommate, “Do you let yourself be bored?” She replied, “ I never thought of that. I am always doing something so I do not give time to myself to just think.” The boredom of time can be agonizing for some people who cannot be quiet and alone with their thoughts, for example, my roommate. Learning to be bored is important for this day and age because we get so distracted by the little things and cannot stop to just
We will never have the time to decompress and think about our thoughts. We will not be able to have the time we need in order for us to not have a mental breakdown, even if it is five minutes of boredom. We need that time in order for us humans to survive this technology crazy world.
After that being said, I do concede that boredom is a choice and we do have things to do other than sitting and complaining about being bored. We never thought about relating boredom to thinking. These two things go hand in hand because when getting bored, we get time to ourselves to think. We get one on one time with our thoughts. Sometimes we need time to decompress and take time for ourselves. Even if it is for five minutes. Time is all we have with our thoughts and