August 07, 2024

On Solitude and How To Avoid Boredom - St. Theophan the Recluse

4 minutes

"I'm bored!" we hear people say, maybe even we ourselves have said this. St. Theophan the Recluse offers practical advice to overcome boredom and the feeling of being all alone.

-BUY the book which includes this text: "The Spiritual Life and How to Be Attuned to It":

https://stpaisiusgiftshop.com/new-products/the-spiritual-life-new-edition/

-LISTEN to "What is an Anathema?" by St. Theophan the Recluse:

https://youtu.be/N7LEV_WqRw0

-LISTEN to "On Truth & Love" by St. Theophan the Recluse:

https://youtu.be/rIOg5LTU-p4

-BUY “The Path to Salvation” by St. Theophan the Recluse:

https://stpaisiusgiftshop.com/books/monastery-publications/the-path-to-salvation/

-BUY “Thoughts for Each Day of the Year” by St. Theophan the Recluse:

http://www.sainthermanmonastery.com/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=tedy

-FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you:

https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/

_______

St. Theophan writes:

You write, "I am left alone and I am bored." This is a natural feeling. But it seems to me that you should not feel this way after the decisions you made and what you were told to do in consequence of this. If the latter took root in you at all, then you would never have realized that you were alone, even though you are by yourself. You would not have realized you were alone, because you would have realized that the Lord is close by, as is your Guardian Angel—not in thought, but in actuality. Then the feeling of loneliness would have seemed out of place, and consequently, the boredom that follows.

Here is the most reliable way for you to avoid it: Arrange things so you do not have a single idle moment and all your time is filled with suitable occupations so that, upon completion of one activity, you have another one ready to begin. What kind of activities should these be? 1) Aesthetic occupations: music, singing, painting. 2) Some sort of handicraft: knitting, needlework and the like. 3) The best remedy for boredom, however, is to acquire a taste for serious reading and the study of subjects that you are unfamiliar with. It is not so much the reading that drives away boredom as the study.

would note for you that the study Count Speransky is referring to is the study of entire sciences, or certain parts of them. By this, it is obvious that one avoids any reading of frivolous books. It seems that you do not like to do this anyway. That is good. Do not give up this habit. Read more the spiritual books (than scientific ones). This is the sphere of the most serious subjects, and, most importantly, the most necessary. In this sphere everything is new and never becomes obsolete.