Being Boring~~by John Nedwill

Douglas Adams once described it as “the long, dark teatime of the soul”. Medieval clergy called it ‘accidie’ and thought of it as one of the precursors to the mortal sin of sloth. Most of us just call it boredom. However, the stigma around it still stands. Many people see boredom as a curse – something to be avoided. To them, boredom is something to be avoided. Instead of being bored, we should be doing things that fill our time and occupy our minds.

Of course, in the last decade, any number of things have been brought about to relieve us from boredom. Each of these things demands a share of our increasingly divided attention. as well as social media with its unceasing demands for updates, likes and reads, there is mobile gaming – designed to separate us from our money as much as from our limited time. Streaming services and on-demand video channels try to tempt us to them with their latest ‘must-see’ offerings. News channels bombard us 24/7 with the latest developments in politics, fashion and trivia, and invite us to share our reactions – now! And, as if that wasn’t enough, there are those who try to fill the physical world with toys to distract us. Boredom is a terrible thing!

But what did we do before there were all these things to distract us from the tedium of life? The answer is simple. We got bored. And when we got bored, we got creative! As children, we would make up games with incomprehensible rules, or we would create worlds to inhabit and populate with our imaginations. We would explore the things around us, satisfying our curiosity and learning (sometimes salutary) lessons about life.

As writers, we should be harnessing this creative energy. Yes, we can always find something to distract us and fill in time, but that is time that we could be spending doing something creative. Even if we are not writing, we can be thinking, planning and plotting – not just idling the hours away in some fruitless twiddling of our thumbs.

So, the next time that you are feeling bored, don’t reach for the television remote or your mobile phone. Grab a pen, take some paper and use the time that you have been given.

Embrace your boredom!

(Editor’s note: I’ve always thought there was something significant about the fact that the German phrase for “I’m bored,” Ich langweile mich, literally translates as “I bore myself.”)

OMP Admin Note: John Nedwill is a writer, OMP Network member, and a regular #OneMillionProject Blogger. His work can be found on Wattpad.com and in the One Million Project’s Short Story Anthologies published in February 2018.

Our short story anthologies written by over 100 writers have been recently published (links below) with all proceeds being donated to the charity organizations our group supports.

If you are a Kindle Unlimited member, you can read the complete anthology for FREE, and KU proceeds are donated along with the proceeds from the sale of our anthologies.

Our volunteer authors love to see reviews, and every review helps to make the One Million Project’s books more visible to Amazon customers, assisting us in our mission to raise One Million Pounds / Dollars for EMMAUS Homeless Programs and Cancer Research UK.

LINKS

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A Personal Space Odyssey~~by Christine Larsen

Wasn’t it only yesterday we watched in awe as the movie ‘2001 – A Space Odyssey’ showed us the unimaginable steps Man had taken in readiness to embrace the brave new world of the 21st century?

We look around ourselves now we’ve begun 2020 and find the world hasn’t changed anywhere near our hopes and expectations of a brighter, happier, more peaceful future. Despite this, we don’t have to change our own personal odyssey too much to gently increase the positives in our own small corner of this world and consistently work at reducing – even ceasing – the negatives that try to pull us down.

A well-known song suggested the need for ‘sweet love’ NOW in our troubled world… and that was back in 1965! That particular ‘now’ is much more than half a decade ago, but it’s never too late for any one of us to generously give and graciously receive Love – no matter how small the gift.

It’s not so hard to take that smallest step – to be the first to smile at a stranger; to offer a greeting, a kind word, a helping hand. These are the simplest gestures of regard toward another human being.

Marry that with empathy – NOT to be confused with sympathy – meaning feeling sorry for, or pitying – all too often leaving the person feeling alone in their tragedy, somehow lacking the understanding they sought and desperately needed.

Empathy is quite different. It is entering into that other person’s world as far as he will let you – and respecting whatever level he is ready to allow. It’s moving forward gently, with baby steps, as and when his spirit ebbs and flows. Never forget, we have not the least idea what this person feels, fears, avoids, or suffers – unless we have ‘walked a mile in his shoes’. And even then, his shoes are a different size than ours. His feet likewise. And his exact path has never been ours no matter how alike it may seem.

The most important thing we do have to offer is a willingness to just stay ‘with‘ this suffering person, in his moment – trying to sense and share and lessen his burden. Only he can lift it, but your understanding will help support him at what may well be his lowest ebb. This is Empathy.

And while you are concentrating on sensitively supporting this person, you will find unexpected changes happening inside yourself. Many previously negative attitudes to people and events will slowly change and soften – and your tolerance will increase to a previously unimaginable level. This is Love.

And from this love can come the possibility for both of you to choose your tomorrow to be the ‘First Day of the Rest of Your Life’ . Those simple words offer SO much – just like the promise of each day’s sunrise – a new day, and a new chapter can begin. A renewal process can begin by simply concentrating on becoming the best possible person you alone can be.

And just like that, your Personal Space Odyssey has begun.

OMP Admin Note: Christine Larsen is a writer, farmer, wife, mother, and grandmother from Australia. She has never been homeless or had significant cancer – yet – but has had exposure to both – creating a great sense of empathy and desire to help in any way she can. She is humbled by the opportunity to give one of her stories to the sincerely worthwhile causes of Cancer research and Homelessness.

To find out more about Christine and her work:

ceedee moodling (Christine’s website)

Christine Larsen, Author

Old McLarsen had some Farms (farming memoirs)

ceedee4kids (Christine’s children’s book site)

Our short story anthologies written by over 100 writers have been recently published (links below) with all proceeds being donated to the charity organizations our group supports.

If you are a Kindle Unlimited member, you can read the complete anthology for FREE, and KU proceeds are donated along with the proceeds from the sale of our anthologies.

LINKS

myBook.to/OMPThriller

myBook.to/OMPFantasy

myBook.to/OMPFiction

myBook.to/OMPVarietyAnthology

The Helsinki Solution~~by Akje Majdanek

“Did you know a homeless woman once asked Hedda for a handout while she was getting out of her BMW in the parking lot? and she told the bag lady to get a job. Can you believe that? Where’s an old woman gonna get a job in this town? She must have been at least eighty. And do you think Hedda would give her one? Hell no. If you wouldn’t hire a homeless person yourself, you ought to keep your big fat mouth shut about them getting a job.”
Der Reiter, Akje Majdanek

We’ve all been there, applying for work. Getting dressed up in your nicest clothes for an interview at McDonald’s only to lose out to someone better dressed or better looking than you. Remind me again how homeless people are supposed to get the position? Fast food seems to have the highest turnover rate and are the easiest jobs to get, but how can a homeless person get one? They need to shower, shave, get a haircut and buy nice clothes first.

Helsinki thinks it has the answer. The city has introduced a housing first policy, and so far it seems to be working. In 1987 there were more than 18,000 homeless people in Finland. In 2019 there were an estimated 5,500.

Previously, a homeless person in Helsinki had to jump through hoops before receiving the final prize─a home. The steps included getting a job, getting therapy, getting sober, etc. depending on the individual’s situation. Few people climbed out of homelessness that way since even the simplest steps were difficult without money.

But now each person is given a small apartment with electricity and running water. The cost is initially borne by the government, then repaid from the formerly homeless when they get a job. Each apartment is individually rented─there is no forced sharing.

It’s easy to see how this could be altered by region to accommodate prevailing conditions around the globe; for instance, instead of paying for an apartment with cash it could be paid for with “sweat equity” like Habitat for Humanity does. But unlike Habitat for Humanity, there’d be no hoops to jump through first. This could work, and would likely cost less than what we’re doing now. It certainly deserves experimentation. I think the Steve Miller Band said it best:

Feed the babies
Who don’t have enough to eat
Shoe the children
With no shoes on their feet
House the people
Living in the street
Oh oh, there’s a solution.

Remember the books you had to read back in high school and college? Books like Animal Farm, Catcher in the Rye, Anna Karenina, The Crucible, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Jane Eyre and a hundred other deep, profound, thought-provoking reads? And remember how you said, “My gawd, those were the most boring books I’ve ever read in my life. I swear I’ll never read anything with literary merit ever again. From now on it’s nothing but sparkly vampires for me!”

Remember that? So who’s writing brilliant stuff like that today? Who’s writing the books that future students will complain about in the universities of tomorrow?

Akje has no idea, but she’d love to find that author, buy him a bottle of Beam and plagiarize all his work. (#^.^#)

Discover more about Akje and her writing at these links:

Our short story anthologies written by over 100 writers have been recently published (links below) with all proceeds being donated to the charity organizations our group supports.

If you are a Kindle Unlimited member, you can read the complete anthology for FREE, and KU proceeds are donated along with the proceeds from the sale of our anthologies.

LINKS

myBook.to/OMPThriller

myBook.to/OMPFantasy

myBook.to/OMPFiction

myBook.to/OMPVarietyAnthology