A revelation

In our current fast-paced and technological world, with social media and various other services plugging the void of our minds with noise, we have forgotten how it feels to be bored. I remember how it felt waiting for my parents to pick me up after school many many many years ago - I was reading Dragon Ball Z on a nearby bench or looking at the cars passing by. And yes, I got bored doing that as a child, but did I feel like anything was missing? No, not really.

You would be forgiven for dismissing this thought as a product of nostalgia, but I recently came to the realization that boredom is good. Because what do people ultimately do without any outside stimulation? They escape into their minds eye. And as someone working in the creative field, I like the sound of that. My mind, our minds, carry many discoveries and revelations ripe to be explored - exploration and creativity are interchangeable.

Flow state

When I work (no matter what I'm working on) I seldom listen to music, a podcast, watch a movie running in the background, or whatever. The solitude of working in silence, a kind of punishing silence where I can hear the blood flowing through my forehead... It does indeed have an impact on my focus, as well my patience. Its a state of flow.

Keeping this state of flow is easy - entering it and embracing it is the hard part. To do so, to grow accustomed to it, I have to grow accustomed to living within silence around me.

Enjoying silence

How does one enjoy the silence? There are three hobbies I involve myself in that help with this. The first is what I'm doing right now: blogging. But it doesn't have to be blogging, it could be a diary, poetry, a calendar, anything writing related. And to me, the key to enjoying silence whilst writing is to write in an enriching environment.

The second hobby is photography - I've been a hobbyist photographer since my teenage years, on and off. And for a vampire such as myself, photography makes for a good reason to spend some time outside and take in your environment.

The third (and most ultimate out of the three) is reading - I used to hate reading as a child (apart from manga) but have since a month ago began reading a couple books here and there. The nice thing about reading is that it functions as a creative exercise for the reader - when there are no pictures to make clear what, how or when something is, you are forced to make use of your creativity. And if it's a really good book, the imaginary world you created throughout the process of reading said book will gift you a universe of sound and imagery to fill in the void of silence around you.

Fast is not always good

Tying this back to the first sentence of this rant, I want to stress that the speed at which one progresses in regards to their skill or social ranking is not proof of any kind of artistry or talent. Social media is fast-paced, and it rewards people that feed its algorithms - it does not reward people that value patience and steady growth. And so, put the phone down, read a book, go outside, learn to play guitar - and do it at your own pace, in silence.