Kierkegaard’s Three Ways to Live More Fully

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People hate being bored. Researchers show that we will go to almost any length to avoid boredom. That can even include giving ourselves painful electrical shocks to stave off ennui—experiments have found that many college-age subjects will actually do this rather than face as little as 15 minutes of doing nothing. Indeed, one of the worst parts of life for many people during the COVID-19 lockdowns was the sheer boredom of being stuck at home, which scholars have shown was associated with substance use, distress, and loneliness.

Almost nothing is worse, then, than realizing that your life has become boring. Perhaps you have at one time or another concluded that your work is drudgery, your hobbies humdrum; that even your relationships are superficial and unsatisfying. Each day reminds you of the one before. What is there