ASK ABDI: WHAT TO DO WITH BOREDOM ON THE SPIRITUAL PATH?

QUESTION: I am so deeply committed to my spiritual, emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. I find this is the only way for me to stay grounded/centered and constantly evolving. I've cut out superfluous things like social media, pop culture, and meaningless relationships. What to do when met with boredom while on the spiritual path? My gut tells me to steep in it, but my mind is trying to tell me otherwise.

ANSWER: This is an important question you are asking. Many of us will, at some point, have to face what you are facing. And your gut is spot-on in telling you to “steep in it”. That is not always an easy thing, but it is a threshold that one must pass.

First of all, congratulations on your commitment to yourself and your sanity. To step back from constant distraction, by being externally focused on all that you describe, is a profound practice in and of itself. The social media piece especially is the next level of disconnect since it is at our fingertips all day long. Not only do we disconnect from ourselves, but also manipulate our nervous system and mood by the constant hit.

These behaviors are highly addictive. If we define addiction as the inability to tolerate the moment, then all the “superfluous” activities that you describe are, in fact, addictive. They pull us out of communion with ourselves and make us externally focused. This is like drinking salt water to quench our thirst: the more we consume, the thirstier we become.

Wonderful that you have stepped back from behaviors that are unhealthy. There is, however, a time frame where the new (full communion and comfort with intimate internal relationship) has not been established. What you call “boredom” is being in a place where the old ways do not work and the new has not been fully revealed. As such, yes, learn to tolerate the lack of drama and distraction.

This is similar to giving up eating junk food and starting to eat healthy. It takes a minute for our taste buds to get used to unsweetened or non-fried foods. We might not yet be excited about eating some steamed vegetables or salad, but with time not only do we tolerate the new tastes but our body craves it - as it finds its own internal compass. And that is what you are doing on an emotional level. Becoming intimate with one’s Self is a process.

Of course, not all of us need to or are able to live away from all interaction. As we deepen our communion with our true self, we learn to be in the world but not of it. We might not be thumbing mindlessly through social media, but we can navigate the world while being solidly connected internally.