Boredom is misunderstood and highly underrated. When I was young I was unable to appreciate the complexity of boredom. I used to think of boredom as the absence of something: passion, curiosity, interests.

I judged myself for my own boredom and listlessness because I thought it meant my mind was empty and incapable of authenticity.

To be bored meant I was boring.

I see boredom differently know. Like depression, which I will muster the courage to write about soon, boredom is a signal that "this isn't it". That I am actually capable of far more and that whatever I am working on isn't filling the deep wells of inspiration running dry in me.

Boredom should excite you because it indicates a higher sense of possibility your inner being is trying to wake you up to. So investigate your own boredom. Sit with it and try to discover what in your life it's connected to.

Is it your major in college, your extracurricular activities, or your job? Ask yourself: What can I do to better pair the latent potential within me with the rigor and purpose I am clearly craving?

Let Your Hobbies Energize You

Sometimes we can't overhaul our lives. There are seasons for great change and the timing of that is important. That's where hobbies come in. Hobbies are that personal art that infuse life with novelty and excitement.

And your hobby can be anything. You don't have to be Evil Knievel jumping out of planes. You can find excitement in how your fingers leave impressions on wet clay spinning on a potter's wheel or in how written words travel into deep recesses of your mind you were a stranger to.

Hobbies are like space travel. They stretch time and push us to the edge of what we know about ourselves.

So next time you're bored, don't condemn yourself. Treat your boredom like an empirical question it is your job to research and expound upon to enrich your life. Treat boredom like the opportunity it is and be grateful you got the message.