Defining emotional and behavioral concepts through word analysis

¶ … Boredom

New name = Meaninglessness.

This is the state of feeling apathetic and listless with the individual feeling lack of interest or absorption in anything of life's activities. The term 'meaning' implies that the activity or span of time is filled with intense interest and relevance to the person, infusing him or her with purpose and excitement. It is purpose-filled and, seen as leading to some definite outcome, imbues the agent and/or participants or spectators with vitality and a sense of being-with-itness, of living in the moment. The reverse of that -- 'meaninglessness' -- denotes the condition of eradication of meaning. Eradication of meaning is synonymous to boredom where life / existence or the present moment is seen as vapid, empty, and hollow, and where nothing of substance is seen to occur.

It is for this reason that existentialists often employ 'boredom' as term in their novels or philosophies, equating it with angst or anxiety where, even thoguh the individual may not be bored in the literal sense -- meaning that he or she may be having 'fun' in the time-honored traditional manner, nonetheless this 'fun' falls flat since it is meaningless. The resultant sensation is a vapidity and frustrated emptiness at life with the 'boredom' of rats continuously chasing each other in the maze. The rats may be having 'fun'. Yet their activity is aimless. Certain Existentialists perceive human fate to lie in the same domain. Boredom, consequently, means lack of meaning where vapidity and emptiness exists and the moment in time -- where temporary or ongoing -- is perceived as necessary but unwanted tedium and vagueness. Boredom, in other words, is meaninglessness.

Procrastination

Procrastination is the bane of existence of anyone who tries to do anything useful or of import. More significantly and familiarly, procrastination can be the bane of a student's existence deterring him or her from studying for certain tests, completing (or starting) certain assignments, attending class, and, if one were living at home, from getting out of bed in the morning and preparing for school. Excuses accompany every single step of the way.

Procrastination is the same across life. Apparently, the more important and urgent the assignment, the more readily procrastination works to ensure that its process is debilitated. Interestingly enough, I have witnessed procrastination to occur even with assignments that I enjoy. It is an s thoguh there were a devil inside us (a minor Satan) that acknowledges the significance of the task to our progress) and robs it of its enticement shrouding it in ugliness and terror so that it intimidates us.

Take writing, for instance -- and I have heard this tale of woe repeated by numerous writers regardless of caliber, class, or repute. Or quality, for that matter. When I sit down to writing, I find myself first running the bath water, lining up the pencils and sharpening them even thoguh they have been sharpened countless times before, brushing my hair, scrimmaging the freezer for some chocolate, tidying the house (something that I detest!), reading a book (after all, I tell myself, it may help my writing) and finally, with a sigh, sitting down to write only to browse through Yahoo at the latest news. The writing, if it starts, is begun midday and scrapped numerous times in the middle.