I Could Jump That Far

The lost art of daring yourself

One of my childhood friends lives to dare himself. Before you wander, he's not into extreme sports or other suicidal stuff like that. Stay grounded. We're Nigerians. He lives for those “I could jump that far” moments. Unlike Marshall who took years to attempt his dared jump, my guy is more like Barney who would've jumped immediately. It's OK if you don't get this reference, but you can get it by watching How I Met Your Mother. My friend loves discovering what he's capable of. You should see it. The satisfaction on his face when he does the thing he sets out to do. It is everything.

My guy is hyperactive. I'm less active. I am very selective of the activity I engage in. I'm more concerned with the rewards of an activity than the activity itself. My friend is more about experiencing the activity, and less about what he stands to gain or lose from it. Experience is the water of consciousness, everything springs from it. My friend is full of life. l'm a “glass half full, half empty” kind of guy. Life takes turns at being full and at being empty for me.

We need to have something that moves us. We need to be open to ideas that will get us engaged in getting somewhere. Loneliness is tough because of the ennui caused by boredom; and boredom is caused by our inability to experience activity. We seek out connection because we yearn for an outlet to express ourselves. We seek out connection because we want a catalyst to help get us there…anywhere worth getting or reaching. We seek water for our consciousness.

I thought my friend is a dying breed, but lately, I realised that I am too. There is a boredom epidemic because there's a shift in how we internally stimulate activity. Even “safe” activities that I love like watching films, leisure reading, and talk shows are being threatened by doomscroll and zombie internet-surfing. What happens when we're experiencing a consciousness drought and everything we consume is the “content” of another person? Our dry, shrunken, mind becomes incapable of producing a spark to ignite a desire for an activity.

Boredom and doomscroll are reinforcing one another in a vicious circle. Our attention span is taking a hit and we're struggling to function away from the screens. Mostly, we now seek satisfaction from content creators. Our mind wouldn't get satisfaction from doing an activity because we lack that spark of desire for it. We get shorter and shorter span satisfaction from people's likes online and that's why we constantly aspire to become content creators. We are transferring our ability to feel satisfaction in our capabilities from ourselves to other people.

It is interesting to note that we can not even track our mindless scrolling. You can track your reading progress. You can track your film watching progress. You can bank the attention span you spent on that particular activity and be proud.

Technology keeps gifting us free time as it eases things. AI is giving us more free time as its capability to do more office tasks increases. Again, it is interesting to note that it is still technology that’s taking up our free time. Technology is Robin Hood and the kakistocratic monarch at the same time. And our minds languish in the desert, lonely and anxious.

PICTURE

You're in a dystopian desert.

Content is a mirage, yet you seek it because nothing seems to be happening close by. Be daring. Be determined. Seek the water of your consciousness from within your reality. Sit with your boredom and test your mental limits, seek your spirituality, dig deeper into your thoughts and interactions, test your physical limits, and this lonely place will become less lonely.

With a little water, things will begin to spring.