Boredom. Deny. Fear. Befriend. Boredom

     Boredom.  Boredom? Yes, boredom.  Well, that doesn't sound very interesting.  Humor me.  Tell me whether hours of sleeplessness regarding a family member was the breeding ground for worthwhile insight.
     I know three people who are at different stages of their careers, who are facing boredom's reality.
     Two years ago--a lifetime ago now--my health ended a 24-year career, which was boredom's intimate. Not a constant intimate, but, an intimate, nonetheless. 
     When my career ended, my family doctor gave me excellent advice.  Get up at the same time every day.  Find something that you are interested in, and go to it as though it was your full-time job.  Though my doctor had not known me long, he did know that I was reasonably intelligent--he knew that I thrived on  intellectual stimulation.
     Of the three individuals, my influence over them varies.  I am not a confrontational person.  My default behaviors are compassion, and empathy.  I am uncomfortable being over in relation to anyone in my life, so, by that standard, I do not have influence over anyone.  I might strive to be the compassionate, yet, straightforward friend a mentor of mine is.  He does not volunteer his opinions--his judgments--readily, or with any fanfare.  Yet, if I seek out his counsel, he is honest with me, not polite and proper, but, straightforward and caring.
     The young man needs the most guidance.  He yearns for excitement.  He goes one step beyond fearing boredom in potential jobs he might secure.  He denies that boredom is a possibility.  If he denies boredom's possibility, then it will not be.  I would make a lousy mother.  I am too wishy-washy.  I want to offer the example of my life, rather than risking the rejection that a more confrontational approach might render.
     The second individual--a woman--is in the middle of her working career.  She understands the realities of the work world.  She has worked in jobs that were boring--jobs that did a grave injustice to her gifts.  Yet, she understood the basic need to be self-supporting.  Or, so I thought.  Extended unemployment has nurtured an idealism that, at other times might be healthy.  Yet, there is a time in one's career--when seeking employment--when serving as an outraged citizen advocate usurps the energy necessary to find employment.  This woman fears boredom.  She remembers its omnipresence in her work life.  She has discovered social justice--advocacy--as a realm within her reach.  Yet, her fear of boredom has the opposite effect that she wants.  She wants to pursue advocacy.  Yet, her resistance to the necessary boredom in aspects of gainful employment will distance her from the social justice she yearns to pursue.  Her eroding self-confidence is the price she is paying for her fear.
     The third individual--a woman--is in the late stages of her working career.  She is boredom's intimate.  Not a constant intimate, but, an intimate nonetheless.  She does not fear boredom.  She does not deny boredom out of fear.  She befriends boredom.  She has a tremendous threshold for boredom that many overlook--she is not a woman of fanfare.  She has flair.  She has creativity.  But, she is not someone who draws attention to herself as being some poor soul.  She lives life fully.  She pursues her passions.  She treasures people.  She is a loyal friend, and is marvelous to her family. 
     Were I more courageous, I would shake the young man, and the first woman, so that I might rid them of their fear, and denial.  Of the second woman, I need little courage to offer my support.  Yet, I fall short.  I know that I am not faced with the work world.  No longer do I need to worry about finding a job, or changing a job.  During the many years I was in the work world, I denied boredom.  I feared boredom.  I befriended boredom.  Never did I surmount boredom as I want to chastise the young man, and two women for not surmounting.  So, I find it difficult to chastise the three individuals for a standard I could not uphold.
     No longer am I in the work world.  I am working in a different world--creating a post-work world life.  Funny.  You might think that being freed of imposed boredom would be replaced by days of constant excitement.  I don't know what that is.
   Gradually, I am trying to put together elements of what I enjoy, what is necessary, and what I may do to serve other people.
    What do I enjoy?  
    Writing.  Online research.  American history--New England, specifically.  Genealogy.  Letter writing.
    What is necessary?  
    Physical exercise.  Swimming.  Being outside.  People--being in circulation with other people.  Being in community with a worshipping community that celebrates life, death, and all that is possible with the same exuberance.
    What may I do to serve?
    Identify organizations needing the skills, abilities, talents, and gifts I have been given to share with those in need.  Challenge people I know to live up to their potential.  Offer my life--my discoveries--with friends, family, neighbors, and worshipping community--fellow believers.  Be open to the lives of my friends, family, neighbors, and worshipping community--fellow believers.
     This is the structure of a new life.  Much remains to be identified.  I don't think I am alone in striving to create this new life--to recognize boredom, acknowledge denial, confess to fear, and befriend boredom, all in the hope of surmounting boredom.  I confess I have a long way to go.  I have forgotten what it is I want to do.  I am not sure if that it is denial, fear, or both.
     Boredom.  Deny.  Fear.  Befriend.  Boredom.

Indoor/Outdoor Living

     Contrary to years gone by, I have no desire--absolutely none--to be inside.  Mind you, I seek no suntan.  I am too fair of face to have that aspiration.  I am born of Norwegian stalk.  Need I say more?  No.  I have lived from the inside looking out.  Now, I yearn to live beyond the window's shade--beyond the door's lock.  I have the wheels.   I have the time.
    Am I nothing more than a fair weather friend of nature?  I am a Minnesotan.  Need I say more?
    No, seriously.  Were I told, "You may have but one view of the world around you, the rest will be blinded to you," what would I choose.  Oh, that is easy.  I have no doubt.  A sugar maple in her full autumn glory--in fiery red.  A sugar maple in fiery red beneath a clear blue sky.  A sugar maple in her full autumn glory standing her ground on a brisk September day.  That would be my single landscape were I limited to one.
     Am I nothing more than a fair weather friend of nature?  I am a Minnesotan.  Need I say more?
     No, seriously.  Wintertime.  My heart melts at the sight of big snowflakes lacing tree branches.
     Am I nothing more than a fair weather friend of nature?  I am a Minnesotan.  Need I say more?
     No, seriously. Springtime.  Born an April's Fool,  the smell of fresh lilac.  Ah, the smell of fresh lilac.  A child born in Golden Valley nary a mile from Lilac Drive.  Hedges of lilacs breeze through my lifetime's senses.
     Wintertime ice. I slip. Wintertime snow drifts.  I fall.  Cold I may dress for.  Yet, ice and snow drifts steal my balance--inner and outer.  Ice and snow drifts steal my balance. From ice and snow--from Cabin Fever I ail.
     Am I nothing more than a fair weather friend of nature?  I am a Minnesotan.  Need I say more?
     Minnesota.  Wait five minutes, the weather will change.  A sugar maple in her full autumn glory--fiery red.  Giant snowflakes lacing tree branches.  Green pine trees laden with a fresh white coat.  Fresh lilac breezing through my lifetime's senses. 68 degrees.  No humidity.  No mosquitoes. Humidity.  Rain showers.  The 90s.  Green skies.  Thunder.  Lightning.  Tornadoes.
     Am I nothing more than a fair weather's friend?  I am a Minnesotan.  Need I say more?