The Forgotten Art of Boredom: Why Emptiness is the New Luxury

It’s Saturday morning. I’ve just returned from an intense CrossFit session, full of endorphins and the satisfaction of a productive start. The rest of the day, the entire weekend in fact, stretches out before me like a blank canvas. No plans, no obligations. The first thought that pops into my head is: what am I going to do?

Immediately, I’m pulled back to a memory. The memory of those languid summer holidays as a child, when all your friends were away and the days seemed endless. You’d wander around the house, kick a ball in the garden, and finally, inevitably, you’d walk up to your mother with that one, almost desperate question: “Mom, what is there to do?” You were bored.

As an adult, that question never seems to come up anymore. Our lives are optimized for productivity, filled with an endless stream of information, tasks, and distractions. Every silent moment is immediately filled. The queue at the supermarket? A perfect opportunity to check emails. A quiet moment on the couch? Time to scroll through social media or turn on a series. We have completely unlearned the art of being bored.

And that’s a shame, because boredom is essential. It isn’t the absence of activity, but the presence of space. Space for your thoughts to wander, for your subconscious to make new connections, and for your soul to breathe.

Boredom as a Compass for Your Soul

From my work with Zielkompas (Soul Compass), I know that the most profound transformation starts from within. This process requires silence. Boredom is the gateway to that silence. It forces you to turn your gaze inward, away from external stimuli. In those ’empty’ moments:

You hear your inner voice: What do you truly want? What are you longing for? What restlessness do you feel? Without distraction, these questions naturally surface.

You process emotions: Just like in my photo series “emotions (P = 42 x E x 7)”, which explores identity and emotion, boredom gives you the chance to feel what’s alive inside you without immediately analyzing or pushing it away.

You restore balance: Our life is a constant cycle of movement and stillness, just like nature. After the intense ‘movement’ of a CrossFit workout or a busy workweek, the ‘stillness’ of boredom is necessary to recover and recharge.

The Void as a Canvas for Creativity

As an artist, I know that the best ideas rarely emerge when I’m desperately searching for them. They arrive in moments of rest. The empty space of boredom is the fertile ground for creativity. It’s the moment my brain, undisturbed, can connect the symbolism of a tulip with arcane symbols, as it did in my work “seeing Interdimensional Dimensions”. Without that unstructured time, my most layered concepts would never come to life.

Boredom creates the necessary mental void in which unexpected ideas can bubble up. It’s the pause the subconscious needs to become conscious, a theme that is central to my series “Seeing Consciously Subconscious”.

How to Learn to Be Bored Again

Can you, as an adult, still experience that pure, childlike boredom? I believe so, but it requires a conscious choice. It’s a skill that, like a muscle, you can train.

Schedule ‘Nothing-Time’: Deliberately block time in your calendar where you have to do absolutely nothing. No tasks, no goals, no entertainment.

Digital Detox: Intentionally leave your phone in another room. The urge to grab it is the first hurdle to overcome.

Observe Without a Goal: Sit on a park bench or look out your window. Notice what’s happening without labeling it, photographing it, or needing to do anything with it. Simply let the world pass you by.

Embrace the Restlessness: The beginning of boredom often feels uncomfortable. You’ll feel the impulse to go and ‘do something’. Acknowledge that feeling and consciously do nothing about it. Breathe through it.

So, the question isn’t what you should do when you have an empty weekend ahead of you, but whether you have the courage to do nothing. To embrace the emptiness and see what unexpected gifts emerge from it.

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