How to make a boring situation interesting.

This afternoon, I was on Security Patrol at the Big Girl’s school. For thirty minutes, dressed in a bright orange poncho and clutching a walkie-talkie, I stood alone as I monitored a single, busy corner.

I expected to be bored out of my mind, but that corner became surprisingly interesting.

I remember reading a Zen principle that if something is boring for two minutes, do it for four minutes. If it’s still boring, then eight minutes, then sixteen, and so on. And eventually you discover that it’s not boring at all.

I’ve noticed that with writing. If part of my research isn’t interesting to me, I read a whole book about it—like the

Bay of Pigs

incident for Forty Ways to Look at JFK–and then it becomes absorbing. The same principle helps when doing boring chores, like washing dishes.

You pass through boredom into fascination.