Tea, Fire and Boredom
“There is more day to dawn”
“I do not say that John or Jonathan will realize all this; but such is the character of that morrow which mere lapse of time can never make to dawn. The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.”
-Henry David Thoreau in Walden
I am quite excited to move into my new room. After stripping away the superficialities of my old room, it has returned to being a box with white walls. And a quiet box is nice at times. There is a simple purity about the room without trinkets and decorations lining every corner. I find that such changes inevitably bring new opportunities. I find that I make new friends, meet new girls and learn new things at the highest rate at times of change. It was why going to the University was initially very exciting. The shot of social and academic adrenaline that kicks life in the groin and marches forward.
There are problems. In such cases, I am not genuinely excited by the activity, but by the novelty of the activity. I do not appreciate the experience for itself, but because it’s new and different. But that is a natural way of thinking. A simple thought experiment: is it possible to imagine anything that you would want to do forever? I can’t say I could. Perhaps I really love, like laying on the beach, would be fun at first. But 2000 years in, I might want a change in scenery. I feel like part of maturing is making peace with this boredom brought on by lack of novelty. Like, as I get used to undergraduate life here, the days will become less novel. And yet, I believe I can still find fulfillment in making peace with the extra-ordinary events of the ordinary day. But today that is not on my mind. I have a new job, a new room, new neighbors, new challenges, new access and a new day.
Perhaps each new day, each rebirth of the sun, is a chance for our own renewal. To find everyday a chance for wonder, excitement and novelty, perhaps that is what I seek.
