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BORED-ING SCHOOL
82 Plays1 year ago
When was the last time you allowed yourself to be bored? In our quick-hit society, we always want that next hit of dopamine. But what if being bored is the key to unlocking inspiration and creativity? Today, you have permission to sit and do NOTHING.
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Transcript
The Value of Embracing Emotions
00:00:03
Speaker
This is a test of the Dirty Briefs Broadcasting System.
00:00:08
Speaker
How are you feeling today?
00:00:11
Speaker
Let's do a little check-in with yourself.
00:00:15
Speaker
Are you feeling agitated?
00:00:17
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Are you feeling anxious?
00:00:19
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Are you feeling excited?
00:00:21
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Are you feeling sad?
00:00:24
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Are you feeling lethargic?
00:00:26
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Are you feeling illuminated?
00:00:29
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Absolutely gospel today.
00:00:34
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Is that a way you can feel gospel?
00:00:37
Speaker
Because I know the gospel can be circulating through your system and making you feel good, whatever that gospel may be to you.
00:00:45
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But is it a feeling you can have?
00:00:47
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I'm going to say, yes, it is.
Boredom vs. Technology
00:00:51
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And here's what I'm going to tell you.
00:00:53
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No matter how you're feeling today, whether it's inspired or maybe lazy, whatever it is,
00:01:01
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I'm giving you permission to be bored today.
00:01:06
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Yep, you have permission to be bored.
00:01:11
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When you feel yourself getting a little antsy, you don't have to take out your phone because you feel that tinge of anxiety permeating throughout your system.
00:01:22
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No, you can just be bored.
00:01:26
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You can allow yourself to feel.
00:01:31
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When was the last time you did that?
00:01:33
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Just really sat there and felt what was going on in your mind and your body.
00:01:40
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Some people are going to say, I never do that because that's scary because that's when the demons come in and make me realize that I'm not really doing my best.
00:01:51
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And I know, but maybe that's a good thing.
00:01:55
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Maybe that's how we need to feel sometimes because
00:01:59
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I'm a big proponent of feeling your feelings.
00:02:02
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If you feel yourself having a wave of depression, come on, let it happen.
00:02:08
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Because otherwise you are burying it deep inside you and it's going to manifest in another way.
00:02:15
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You're going to feel resentment.
00:02:16
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You're going to feel anger.
00:02:18
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I think it's very important to feel what you're going through.
00:02:22
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Recognize the feeling, know that it's temporary, realize that you can get yourself to a better state of being.
00:02:29
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But in this moment, if you're saying, hey, I'm being lazy right now, I don't feel it, good.
00:02:38
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Then don't do anything, but allow yourself to be bored.
00:02:44
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Because boredom creates inspiration.
00:02:48
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When you're bored, use that feeling to ask yourself, what do I really want to do with my time here on earth?
Boredom and Life Contemplation
00:02:58
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What is the legacy that I want to leave behind?
00:03:02
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By being bored,
00:03:04
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you will start to realize the importance of just allowing yourself to feel those things.
00:03:13
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And maybe some of those questions that seem larger than life will start to get answered.
00:03:21
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Because I know the legacy you want to leave behind is not how much time did I spend on my phone?
00:03:28
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How many smiley face emojis did I leave on Mike's Instagram page?
00:03:33
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I know that's not what you want.
00:03:36
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One of my biggest fears, I'm going to get vulnerable with you all.
00:03:40
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One of my biggest fears is that at the end of my life,
00:03:47
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My life will flash before my eyes and it will just scroll through other people's posts.
00:03:54
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Can you imagine?
00:03:56
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It's not even what I did.
00:03:57
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It's what other people did.
00:04:00
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What a horrible...
00:04:02
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moment.
00:04:03
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That's not what I want to leave behind.
00:04:05
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So what do I want?
00:04:07
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What will fill my cup at the end of the day?
00:04:10
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What will make me say, Hey, I did it.
00:04:14
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So when I walk through that door at the end of my life, I can feel satisfied knowing that whether there's something on the other side or there's not, I did what I could hear.
00:04:26
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I left an impression.
00:04:28
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And it wasn't just my skin flakes because of my eczema that were left behind.
00:04:34
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Sometimes you just got to sit there.
00:04:37
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You have to.
Observation and Creativity
00:04:39
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If you're waiting for Netflix or a video to load or it's something to render, just sit there.
00:04:46
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If you're in line at the store, just stand there.
00:04:51
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Just stand there and look around.
00:04:54
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When was the last time you really took in your surroundings?
00:04:58
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Next time you're in a public place that has a waiting room, take a moment and look around.
00:05:04
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Everyone will be on their phone, every single person.
00:05:07
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And if you're not sure, you're going to look like a creepy weirdo, but that's just because you're being a human.
00:05:15
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20 years ago, that's what we did in waiting rooms.
00:05:17
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We read whatever shitty magazine that we never wanted to read was right there.
00:05:23
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It's like, okay, golf digest.
00:05:25
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I guess that's what I'm going to take in right now.
00:05:28
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Let me see how Phil Mickelson is doing.
00:05:31
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I don't give a shit.
00:05:33
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It's just something to do.
00:05:35
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But so is sitting there.
00:05:37
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So is sitting there.
00:05:39
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There's an old, like,
00:05:42
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Maybe it's a Buddhist saying or something, but don't just do something.
00:05:46
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Sit there.
00:05:48
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See, boredom can appear in multiple ways.
00:05:50
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It can manifest itself.
00:05:52
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You can feel lethargic, tired, or you can feel agitated, irritated.
00:05:58
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That's what boredom does.
00:06:00
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It creeps in.
00:06:00
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It's like a bug crawling on your skin.
00:06:03
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And it's like, why don't you do something?
00:06:05
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Why don't you look at something else?
00:06:07
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Why don't you watch something?
00:06:09
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Why don't you do anything?
00:06:13
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But sometimes when you don't go for the easy fix of opening social media, putting on a TV show,
00:06:21
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Sometimes that's when true inspiration comes.
00:06:27
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When you were a kid and you were bored, that led to creativity.
00:06:31
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If you didn't have a ball, you would find a way to make up a sport or a game with your friends so you could still be out there having fun.
00:06:43
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Well, as an adult, why would you lose that childlike sense of wonder?
00:06:48
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That's such a beautiful part of living is being a kid because you're curious.
00:06:55
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You don't know anything yet.
00:06:56
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You don't have responsibilities.
00:06:58
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And a lot of times what happens in adulthood is suddenly you're like, but I have to go make a dentist appointment and then I have to pay the utility bill and then I have to take Susie to soccer practice.
00:07:07
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And then when am I going to get a moment for myself?
00:07:10
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I get it.
00:07:12
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Even if you're in the car today and you're listening to this in the car.
00:07:16
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Thank you, by the way.
00:07:19
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But when this is over, don't just immediately put on another podcast or music.
00:07:25
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Just drive for a little bit.
00:07:27
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Just drive.
00:07:29
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When I'm on the road and I'm driving to another city, oftentimes I will have periods of time when I just let my thoughts take over.
00:07:38
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And sometimes, sure, they can feel a little debilitating, but sometimes that's when my greatest inspiration comes because I'm not letting in outside noise.
Inspiration Through New Experiences
00:07:50
Speaker
Boredom isn't a bad thing.
00:07:52
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It's necessary for creativity.
00:07:56
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And it may inspire you to change your routine.
00:07:59
Speaker
If you're feeling bored, go outside and take a walk today down a different path than you normally take.
00:08:06
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Change the shower to cold at the very end.
00:08:10
Speaker
Eat ice cream with a fork and do it before dinner.
00:08:15
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Do something that changes it up inside of you and makes your brain create a new wrinkle that maybe will force you down a different path.
00:08:27
Speaker
I give you permission to be bored today.
00:08:32
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And I'm going to take that for myself.
00:08:36
Speaker
I'm going to spend a few minutes today just sitting, meditating, but not even thinking about visualization of my future self or what I can do to improve my status.
00:08:47
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No, I'm just going to sit and I'm going to breathe in through the nose.
00:08:52
Speaker
Well, through the mouth.
00:08:55
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Change it up.
00:08:55
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Change up the way I breathe.
00:08:56
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In one nostril.
00:08:57
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Out the other.
00:09:00
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Do things that are different.
00:09:03
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It's okay to be bored.
00:09:05
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It doesn't mean you're a boring person.
00:09:07
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There's an old adage like, if you're bored, you must be boring too.
00:09:10
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Disagree.
00:09:12
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If you're bored, it's because you're waiting for some source of outside energy to enter.
00:09:20
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And you're allowing the space.
00:09:22
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Your door is open.
00:09:25
Speaker
And who knows who's going to come into the house?
00:09:28
Speaker
You don't know.
00:09:30
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Could be an angry person that wants to
Legacy and Self-Discovery
00:09:32
Speaker
kill you, but it's probably not.
00:09:33
Speaker
It's probably a beautiful being of light that just wants to make you feel better in some way.
00:09:41
Speaker
What is your legacy?
00:09:43
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Be a little bored today and maybe you'll figure it out.
Local Comedy Events
00:09:47
Speaker
And while you're changing up your routine,
00:09:50
Speaker
I recommend going to a live comedy show.
00:09:52
Speaker
When was the last time you did that?
00:09:54
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Because I got some coming up.
00:09:56
Speaker
I'll be in Richmond, Virginia at Garden Grove Brewing, December 10th.
00:10:02
Speaker
That's a free show.
00:10:03
Speaker
Yep, I'm doing a free show because I'm going back there to visit my family and I didn't want to worry about selling tickets.
00:10:07
Speaker
So you can just go.
00:10:08
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So if you know people in Richmond,
00:10:10
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Send them out.
00:10:11
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Garden Grove Brewing, December 10th.
00:10:13
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And then the Comedy Store, December 14th.
00:10:15
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We're doing our second edition of Perfect Dose.
00:10:17
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Jerry Brandt and myself are running that show.
00:10:20
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It's got a fantastic lineup.
00:10:21
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Again, it's going to be great.
00:10:24
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I have lots of things coming up.
00:10:26
Speaker
But go do something that's going to fill you up.
00:10:29
Speaker
Go see a type of music that you've never heard.
00:10:33
Speaker
Go jump in a pool with all your clothes on.
00:10:39
Speaker
And maybe the pool's locked.
00:10:41
Speaker
Maybe you weren't even supposed to be in there in the first place.
00:10:42
Speaker
Maybe it's somebody's house and you broke into their backyard.
00:10:45
Speaker
Good.
00:10:47
Speaker
That's called changing up your routine.
00:10:49
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So go do it.
00:10:51
Speaker
Go break into someone's backyard.
00:10:54
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Make sure they don't have a giant dog that's going to attack you.
00:10:57
Speaker
And if they have a small dog, feed it some treats, give it some extra pets, and give it some extra love because that dog shouldn't be outside anyway.
00:11:04
Speaker
Thank you all for listening.
00:11:06
Speaker
I'll see you next week.