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I'm curious how often people are "entertained." I know that entertain is a relative term, but how often do some of you on here have something planned? I have family who seem to think that a person should have something planned all the time. If I have any sort of downtime when I'm not asleep or at work it seems that they always ask what I have planned , what I am doing that day, or what I did all day. While it could be written off as making conversation, they take it a step further to what could almost be considered interrogation. I also know quite a few people who always have to go out to the bars on weekends as there is not much to do in our rural location. I am not that into the bar scene and would prefer to save money for things like traveling or to buy outdoor gear. People seem to think that translates to me not doing anything even though I may have been out in the outdoors all that day.
While I do get like to get out and have things to do, I don't expect to have something planned all the time and I don't mind a little bit of down time here and there. It seems that people deal in extremes on this. Even if I lived in a big city, I wouldn't expect to be entertained all the time as most of that does cost money.
There are too many people out there who think they have to be "stimulated" every damned waking minute of the day. I don't understand this at all. It's almost as if people have a fear of a little boredom, or at least some down time, and I can't help wondering if this is mostly an American curse.
I like to be entertained, too, but not all the time. By the time I leave a demanding job for 8 hours I am done with people and don't want to have to do anything. My home is my haven to buffer out, and if reading a book or even sitting in my back yard listening to birds is all I want to do then I do it without guilt.
I pretty much entertain or amuse myself. Or am entertained by the things going on in my neighborhood, by my neighbors, or by my dogs. I almost never go out to a bar (I don't drink) and never go to movies.
I like to read non-fiction books and find some amusing books every once and awhile. Otherwise books are interesting or I learn something new.
VHS videos are selling for 25 cents each at yard sales now and I have hundreds of them. I usually only watch those while eating. If I buy a video and it is stupid or boring (many are), I just throw it away. Easy to do that for 25 cents each.
My dogs are quite entertaining. I take them for walks and chat with the neighbors. I tickle their feet with a Q-Tip and they then try to bite the end of it, but not if I am quick enough to pull it out of their reach! Then I will grab a couple of dog treats, and quickly run and hide somewhere in the house. They run all over desperately searching for me (and their treats). They like that. I also have some movies with dogs in them. I have them stopped at dog scenes (which you can do with VHS!), then play them and the dogs bark at the TV (new style flat screen which the dogs can see).
Sometimes I will sit on my front porch and watch the birds or dogs and people walking by. I chat with some of the people. A kid, maybe 9 years old, came by the other day and wanted to borrow a wrench for his bike. I loaned him one and told him he needed to turn the nut on his bike "counterclockwise" to loosen it.... He (growing up with only digital devices) did not know what clockwise or counterclockwise was! (That was amusing...)
I also like to go to fairs, museums, events, go on drives, etc. But that is mostly in the summer when the weather is better for driving (and various events are going on).
I'm kind of fed up with going anywhere with people anymore. All they do is "text" the entire time. Go to a bar and people are sitting there texting... Why go out or go to someone else's house if you are going to text?
I was sitting on my porch the other day and saw a young guy try to play basketball and text at the same time. THAT was quite amusing...
I'm curious how often people are "entertained." I know that entertain is a relative term, but how often do some of you on here have something planned? I have family who seem to think that a person should have something planned all the time.
This can be a residual effect of the "Protestant work ethic" where people are uncomfortable if they are not always Doing Something, even if it's a planned leisure activity. Or it can just reflect that 75% or so of people in this world are extroverts and extroverts get uncomfortable with being alone, quiet time, or any other mode of being that doesn't involve socializing. The discomfort can take the form of boredom, loneliness, and/or generalized anxiety -- the latter because many extroverts never learn much self-awareness and prefer to avoid their fears, concerns and issues rather than learn about them and deal with them.
Or it can just be that a person was socialized, perhaps within what I call a BNF (Big Noisy Family -- think Italian) to just always be engaged with others, even if it's just a bunch of arguing and posturing.
You may have to be more assertive in saying you have a quiet day alone planned and that is just fine, thank you very much. They may be "concerned for you" for awhile; hopefully when they see that you haven't slit your own throat and are thriving they will leave you alone, but don't count on it.
I used to be like that, needed to be amused.
Good thing I've grown out of that. I'm fine with absolutely nothing to do. I rarely get bored, but when I feel I need some amusement I'll go for a walk or bike ride. Most see my life as boring (no kids, wife, etc) but I see theirs as dramatic chaos and could never live that kind of life.
I love the quiet, my imagination as a dreamer I keep myself entertained with thoughts of winning the lotto and moving to my own private island
This can be a residual effect of the "Protestant work ethic" where people are uncomfortable if they are not always Doing Something, even if it's a planned leisure activity. Or it can just reflect that 75% or so of people in this world are extroverts and extroverts get uncomfortable with being alone, quiet time, or any other mode of being that doesn't involve socializing. The discomfort can take the form of boredom, loneliness, and/or generalized anxiety -- the latter because many extroverts never learn much self-awareness and prefer to avoid their fears, concerns and issues rather than learn about them and deal with them.
Or it can just be that a person was socialized, perhaps within what I call a BNF (Big Noisy Family -- think Italian) to just always be engaged with others, even if it's just a bunch of arguing and posturing.
You may have to be more assertive in saying you have a quiet day alone planned and that is just fine, thank you very much. They may be "concerned for you" for awhile; hopefully when they see that you haven't slit your own throat and are thriving they will leave you alone, but don't count on it.
Then I must be the living embodiment of the Anti-Protestant-Work-Ethic.. I strive to maximize effectiveness while minimizing planning, because fundamentally, I hate scheduling pure and simple. An hour or two of unstructured time where I do whatever I want is all the leisure I need every day. I might go for a walk, I might watch a video, read a book, or whatever I choose at the moment.
Interesting points of view on here. You all sound like pretty low-maintenance people. I've always thought those who always have to be entertained are a bit high-maintenance.
Ever see "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"? How he "zones out" into fantasies all the time? Well, that is kind of me. My mind is so scatter-brained and my dayrdreaming life is so alive that I am rarely bored. When I take the bus I just look out the window and after saving the world from the Galactic Empire, having a three-some with Emma Watson (after convincing her she's not a lesbian) and Sasha Gray, being a terrorist, catching a terrorist and killing my boss who turned out to be necromancer, I'm suddenly at work.
I can walk around for hours with my mind stimulating me enough to not need to seek things out. But when I do, I usually like things that actually make me move, like boxing or snowboarding.
Being insane comes in handy sometime: my mind is so alive, it never leaves me bored
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