Colette on Boredom

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"Boredom helps one to make decisions."

By Colette (1873-1954)

I love this particular quote. It is so unexpected. But Colette was a very smart woman, so let's look at what she was saying.

Boredom

Well, boredom isn't something most of us would choose. It certainly isn't something we plan. Who gets up in the morning and says "Today I am going to be bored. Hurray!" Not many people.

So we don't choose it. We don't plan it. But it happens.

Most people would say that when they are bored they are somewhere between uncomfortable to miserable. People hate being bored, and are willing to do almost anything so it won’t happen.

But it does.

Making Decisions

Another thing most people don’t like to do is make decisions. So many times decisions mean a fight, or at least an argument, with someone who wants us to think different.

But if we don’t make decisions, choices can be taken out of our hands and we are left with an unpleasant set of facts.

  • A toothache ignored might mean the loss of a tooth.
  • No decisions about money can mean big debts.

No, we don’t like decisions and we don’t like boredom.

But we feel Colette is telling us something more. An important secret. And this is a secret that has brought Colette joy.

Colette’s Secret

If you read about Colette’s life you will realize that she must have spent hours alone feeling bored and frightened. As a young girl she married a much older man who took her writings and published them under his own name when she was still a country girl in Paris who knew no one.

And during the thirteen years she was married to him, he would lock her in her room until she had written enough to satisfy him.

These long and lonely hours where the ones that made her such a strong woman. Without distractions, without any friends or the family she so loved Colette came to understand what was important to her. She came to understand, at an early age, what was the center of her life.

After thirteen years, she left her husband – at a time when divorce was rare, and it was always the man who would demand it. But not Colette.

There are things about her life that I don’t like, or agree with. But then I never married an abusive greedy man who took me to a strange place far from home.

When I am Bored

So when I am bored, I think about Colette – and wonder what part of my life am I not facing. I sit at a rain-washed window and wonder if I have been true to my life and myself. Or in a waiting room with nothing to read, I walk the paths of memory to find hidden treasures of strength.

So Next Time . . .

So the next time you are stuck somewhere with nothing to do. Bored and staring out the window or at the wall, ask yourself what decision you need to think about. Not necessarily to make any changes just now. Just to think about one thing in that could be changed.

And how we can see things different.

For More information about Colette:

WARNING: Some of her writings are very "earthy" and not recommended for young people. It is only recently I became aware of some things of her life I personally do NOT agree with. On the other hand, I do feel the need to credit this worthwhile original idea.