Abstract

ABSTRACT In Why Boredom Matters: Education, Leisure, and the Quest for a Meaningful Life, Kevin Hood Gary challenges us to seriously reflect on the experience of boredom. In his exploration, Gary considers the phenomena of situational and existential boredom as well as the experience of despair. For Gary, these ways of living in the world are a challenge and limitation to authentic human flourishing. The antidote to existential boredom, as he argues, is the art of leisure, which is a focal practice that requires specific cultivation. The art of leisure goes beyond a replacement of our boredom-avoidant doomscrolling with a cheerful mindfulness while engaged with our daily activities, washing the dishes, going for a walk, etc. Although accessible to everyone, the art of leisure requires us to intentionally develop our capacity to lovingly behold the givenness of the saturated phenomena always around us within the little moments of our life. Gary offers the reader an invitation to consider the profound individual and educational ramifications of adopting this alternative way of being in the world.