Notes on “The Burnout Society”

• An animal must multi task, “lest it be eaten while eating”

• An animal can  not completely focus on the task at hand, they are always thinking of many other things

• Cultures tend to believe in full focus on one thing, but in reality we are hyperattentive

• “deep boredom a ‘dream bird that hatches the egg of experience.’”

• “Deep boredom is the peak of mental relaxation”

• Restlessness in boredom will lead to productivity and creating

• To hectically rush production only pushes the creation on what is already being made, rather than creation of something new

• Those who tolerate boredom, will push and push until they find something new

Notes on Bernard Williams from, “Philosophical Views on Boredom”

• “He thinks of boredom as indifference, detachment, coldness, and inner death”

• Believes that boredom is the enemy to life, that such lengths of boredom can drive someone to suicide

• Being bored means we are not seeking deeper meaning, that we are not reflecting and thinking on our lives

• Boredom is immoral, and inhumane

• Boredom is equivalent to human failure

  
  
  

Unplug for a Day - A Quarantine PTSD

First off, I took notes through my day as if I had a journal, and here are my initial thoughts and concerns: A, as my family lives far away, I keep in contact with them daily, calling several times a day; B, my boyfriend and I of 2.5 years are in a long distance relationship, and I don't think there has been a day where we haven’t communicated in some shape way or form; and C, my work place tends to call me frequently as I am most of the time, “on-call”. So right from the get-go, my heart is full of dread, as I already know I am drastically changing my routine and that my anxiety for how my family members and loved ones are doing will sky rocket. I told my family and boyfriend what was going on so that they wouldn’t worry, and to call me in an emergency– but still my heart was so anxious to be out of contact with them for even a day. Nonetheless, I felt an obligation to fully commit to this experiment.

Starting off with my morning, I noticed the first thing I did as I woke up was to literally just contemplate life. I woke up, but laid in my bed for a hot minute, and I just let my thoughts roll. I worried about my family, until my brain trailed all the way to a plan for the day. Eventually, I left the comfort of my bed to go up and be productive. In my routine, I was able to pay a lot more attention to detail. Washing my face in the morning wasn’t a quick hit-and-run, but rather I was able to do a whole routine. My skin feels so fresh, I was able to do face masks and even whiten my teeth! I will say, it was hard to do this without music, but I was so invested in myself that I just focused on perfecting the steps.

I had a very fruitful day, I swam, taught my dad to swim, and sang a whole bunch. Really, these are activities I love doing, but I just never allow myself time to do them. This experience was like quarantine all over again, the comfort of electronics and my bed could only take me so far until I became so desperate that I did activities out of my norm. In my situation, it is quite hard to minimize my phone due to my own personal duties, but I am enlightened and considering limiting the time spent on my electronics. Creative Section: Very happily, I was able to dedicate my time to painting some more. I'm really happy that in this class I get to showcase my creations as I hardly sit down and work on something that I'm proud of. Here is a quick little sketch on one of my favorite animated films, "Ponyo" by Hayato Miyazaki from Studio Ghibli