Adventure Journal — Chapter 3

The Space Between

We’re in our final week in Sumatra before heading back to Bali for a bit, and I’ve been thinking a lot about boredom.

Life becomes really simple in a place like this. It’s stripped down. You surf, eat, work, talk to people, watch the sunset, sleep, and wake up to do some version of it all over again.

There aren’t endless places to go or things to do.

There’s just a lot of time.

And I’ve realized I’m not always very good at that.

The waves here challenge me, but I think the stillness of just being here has challenged me in a completely different way.

I was talking to this cool girl who moved from Boston to Indonesia about seven years ago. I was telling her that lately I’ve felt like I’m “trying to find something.”

I don’t even really know what that something is. Something to do, somewhere to go, something to work on. I just notice that when things get too quiet, I start searching for a way to fill the space.

She told me she thinks that mindset is pretty ingrained in a lot of people, and especially Americans, from a young age. Keep moving. Stay busy. Think about what’s next.

Then she said, “Creativity is born from boredom.”

I’ve heard that before, but this time it really sat with me.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized boredom isn’t really the point. It’s what comes after it.

When there’s nothing immediately filling your mind, it gets space to wander. And when it wanders long enough, I think you start accessing parts of your imagination that get drowned out when your brain is constantly occupied.

I think we were probably better at this as kids.

We had more time to be bored. More time to make things up, create games, build imaginary worlds and turn almost nothing into something.

Maybe that same imagination just looks different as we get older.

Instead of imagining worlds to play in, we start imagining the life we want to live. An idea we want to create. A place we want to go. A goal that feels a little out of reach, and all the different paths we could take to get there.

And maybe stillness gives us clarity too.

When everything gets quiet, there’s less competing for your attention. I feel like I can actually follow a thought all the way through instead of interrupting it with something else. Sometimes an idea becomes clearer. Sometimes I realize something I’ve been overthinking isn't actually that complicated. And sometimes my mind ends up somewhere completely unexpected.

I was thinking about all of this while riding my scooter here.

I drive past Indonesian kids playing all the time, and there’s something really beautiful about the way they create with whatever is around them. Pieces of plywood and coconuts become a seesaw. Coconut trees become soccer goals. An old tire becomes a swing.

They just look at what’s around them and imagine what else it could be.

Maybe that’s something we lose a little bit as we get older.

Not necessarily our imagination, but the empty space that allows us to access it.

Because when was the last time I was actually bored?

I’m realizing how quickly I try to fill every empty moment. Sometimes with my phone, sometimes with work, sometimes just by finding something else to do.

And I know I’m not the only one. Think about how rare it is now to see someone just sitting somewhere or standing in a line with nothing to occupy them. Somewhere along the way, I think we’ve gotten really good at filling every little gap in our day.

Maybe those little gaps aren’t meant to be filled.

Surfing is probably one of the only times I naturally give myself that space.

There’s this moment after a massive cleanup set when the entire lineup has just gotten absolutely smoked. Everyone finally makes it back outside, and suddenly nobody is talking.

After all that chaos, it gets so quiet you can actually hear the foam settling on top of the water.

I love that moment.

My mind is completely still.

I like that everyone just experienced the same thing at the same time.

Although it usually doesn't last long.

Eventually I get impatient. If I haven’t caught a wave in a while, I start paddling around the lineup. Maybe I should sit deeper. Maybe the waves are better over there.

And somehow, right after I leave, a good one seems to roll through exactly where I was sitting.

It makes me laugh because I think I do the same thing in life.

I’m always looking for what’s next. The next idea, the next trip, the next thing to work toward.

Being here has made me notice how uncomfortable it can be when there isn’t a next thing—and how much can actually happen in my mind when I stop trying to find one.

I’m starting to think boredom might not be as empty as I thought it was.

Maybe there’s something in those little moments before I reach for my phone, when my mind has nowhere specific to go and can just… wander.

Maybe I don’t always have to be searching for the next thing.

Sometimes I just have to sit still long enough to let the wave come to me.

Let my mind wander.

See where it goes.

Maybe nothing happens.

Or maybe, for the first time in a while, my imagination gets enough room to run free.