Last week I was bored.

Not a little bit bored. Properly bored. And apparently, this is excellent news for my creativity. Because when I have nothing to do, I write. 

In the boredom, my mind has time to run free and, as a result, I wrote two new poems. One of them came from looking at three little snails.

Yes. Three snails.

There I was, bored out of my mind, wandering around, when I noticed three tiny Cernuella virgata going about their very slow business. And suddenly I was interested. Really interested.

I looked. 

I thought. 

I wrote.

A poem appeared.

Then I sent it to my friends. We had a laugh. And I thought: maybe boredom is underrated.

When I’m busy, my brain is full. Things to solve, things to organise, things to improve, things to remember.

When I’m bored, apparently my brain starts looking for trouble. Or snails. Or poems.

And maybe that is exactly what creativity needs. A bit of empty space. Nothing demanding my attention. No particular outcome. Just enough room for my brain to wander off and find something interesting.

The funny thing is that I haven’t even felt particularly productive this week. I’ve felt slow. A bit uncommitted. A bit like I’m not really getting anywhere.

And yet…

Three new poems. Two blogs. Four poems chosen for a competition.

Maybe creativity doesn’t always look productive while it’s happening.

Maybe sometimes it looks like sitting around being bored and suddenly thinking: what’s that over there?

And then you notice something. And then you play with it. And then you write. And then you’re laughing with your friends about three snails.

I think I like this version of creativity. It doesn’t feel very serious. It doesn’t require a five-year plan. It doesn’t even require inspiration.

Apparently, all I need is enough boredom.

Who knew?