You may ask: why was I listening to Manoush Zomorodi talk about boredom.
Or, you may have already accurately guessed the reason. I was bored.
Turns out, boredom is the best thing to happen to me since sliced bread. The best thing, for all of us.
At least, that’s the impression I got from listening to an interview with Manoush Zomorodi, the host of the ‘TED Radio Hour’… which you can catch on our local Ignacio radio station, KSUT, Sundays at 10am. It’s one of the many NPR shows on KSUT that reminds us about the big, interesting world, out there somewhere.
The big, interesting world that we moved to Pagosa Springs, to avoid.
But I don’t want to get into “big and interesting” this morning. I’m more about “insignificant and boring.”
Surprisingly, Manoush Zomorodi is also fascinated with ‘boredom’. Or so it would appear. Why is it surprising? I mean, coming from the host of a nationally syndicated radio show?
The ‘TED Radio Hour’ program description on the KSUT website:
Exploring the biggest questions of our time with the help of the world’s greatest thinkers. Host Manoush Zomorodi inspires us to learn more about the world, our communities, and most importantly, ourselves.
KSUT also has a short bio about Ms. Zomorodi. In addition to hosting the ‘TED Radio Hour’, she’s a journalist, podcaster and media entrepreneur, and “her work reflects her passion for investigating how technology and business are transforming humanity.”
In other words, she and I share a lot in common.
She’s a co-founder of Stable Genius Productions, and co-host and co-creator of ZigZag, the business podcast about being human. She also created, hosted, and was managing editor of the podcast Note to Self in partnership with WNYC Studios, which was named Best Tech Podcast of 2017 by The Academy of Podcasters. Last year, she created an NPR series ‘The Body Electric’ to investigate the relationship between our technology and our bodies.
Fast Company named her one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2018.
From that brief description, you might not think Ms. Zomorodi struggles with boredom. (You might also think that about me, and we will get around to that, in a moment.)
In spite of what you and I might think about someone who has runs three syndicated radio shows, produces an equal number of podcasts, and two or three companies, and appears on her own TED Talk, Ms. Zomorodi seems to be concerned about boredom.
In fact, her TED Talk is specifically about boredom. And she wrote a book. “Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Creative Self” … a guide to surviving ‘information’ overload and the ‘Attention Economy.’
Like I said, I came across Ms. Zomorodi in an online interview, because I was bored.
When I’m bored, and the internet is down (which happens occasionally, in Pagosa) I usually eat something. Toast, usually. Toast is relatively inexpensive as a treatment for boredom.
My cat, Roscoe, has his own approach to boredom. He takes a nap. Or else he stands at the front door and, in a clear voice, instructs me to let him out. For Roscoe, a brief stroll around the neighborhood seems to be a speedy cure for boredom, because within a few minutes, he’s typically outside the front door, instructing me to let him back in.
So he can take another nap.
Naps are even more economical than toast. Or so it seems to me.
When my boredom becomes extreme (and the internet is down) I sit down and write another humor column for the Daily Post.
I suppose, if I were terminally bored, I could write a whole book, like Ms. Zomorodi did. But I would have a different title. The idea of “Brilliant” is a bit intimidating. So I would title my book:
“Bored and Eating Toast. Or Else, Napping.”
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.