One perspective that I've taken to recently is this:
Maybe life just isn't exactly what I want it to be.
In other words, maybe if I go around expecting to have fun all the time (or enjoy myself, or be stimulated, or do what I want, or however I think about it), I will be perpetually disappointed and confused.
I don't know but I speculate about the role of the ideology of consumer capitalism in all this. (No, really!)
It's not that I think life ought to be dull or boring, but it shouldn't be controversial to say that most of us have lingering expectations about life that are out of tune with reality.
Maybe it just comes down to being willing to endure doing things that feel boring and/or stupid compared to the other myriad fun things that are always available to us affluent people.
Some relevant quotes from David Foster Wallace:
"This is the great thing about it, is that probably each generation has different things that force the generation to grow up. Maybe for our grandparents it was World War Two. You know? For us, it’s gonna be that at, at a certain point, that we’re either gonna have to put away childish things and discipline ourself about how much time do I spend being passively entertained? And how much time do I spend doing stuff that actually isn’t all that much fun minute by minute, but that builds certain muscles in me as a grown-up and a human being? And if we don’t do that, then (a) as individuals, we’re gonna die, and (b) the culture’s gonna grind to a halt."
From fictional characters in his The Pale King:
“True heroism is minutes, hours, weeks, year upon year of the quiet, precise, judicious exercise of probity and care—with no one there to see or cheer. This is the world.”
“The truth is that the heroism of your childhood entertainments was not true valor. It was theatre. The grand gesture, the moment of choice, the mortal danger, the external foe, the climactic battle whose outcome resolves all--all designed to appear heroic, to excite and gratify and audience. Gentlemen, welcome to the world of reality--there is no audience. No one to applaud, to admire. No one to see you. Do you understand? Here is the truth--actual heroism receives no ovation, entertains no one. No one queues up to see it. No one is interested.”
Maybe life just isn't exactly what I want it to be.
In other words, maybe if I go around expecting to have fun all the time (or enjoy myself, or be stimulated, or do what I want, or however I think about it), I will be perpetually disappointed and confused.
I don't know but I speculate about the role of the ideology of consumer capitalism in all this. (No, really!)
It's not that I think life ought to be dull or boring, but it shouldn't be controversial to say that most of us have lingering expectations about life that are out of tune with reality.
Maybe it just comes down to being willing to endure doing things that feel boring and/or stupid compared to the other myriad fun things that are always available to us affluent people.
Some relevant quotes from David Foster Wallace:
"This is the great thing about it, is that probably each generation has different things that force the generation to grow up. Maybe for our grandparents it was World War Two. You know? For us, it’s gonna be that at, at a certain point, that we’re either gonna have to put away childish things and discipline ourself about how much time do I spend being passively entertained? And how much time do I spend doing stuff that actually isn’t all that much fun minute by minute, but that builds certain muscles in me as a grown-up and a human being? And if we don’t do that, then (a) as individuals, we’re gonna die, and (b) the culture’s gonna grind to a halt."
From fictional characters in his The Pale King:
“True heroism is minutes, hours, weeks, year upon year of the quiet, precise, judicious exercise of probity and care—with no one there to see or cheer. This is the world.”
“The truth is that the heroism of your childhood entertainments was not true valor. It was theatre. The grand gesture, the moment of choice, the mortal danger, the external foe, the climactic battle whose outcome resolves all--all designed to appear heroic, to excite and gratify and audience. Gentlemen, welcome to the world of reality--there is no audience. No one to applaud, to admire. No one to see you. Do you understand? Here is the truth--actual heroism receives no ovation, entertains no one. No one queues up to see it. No one is interested.”