Is anyone else boring and mostly content with it?

[Anonymous]

I am poor and rarely travel - generally once every four years or so and usually for a funeral. Most of the time I'm fine and at peace with it, but I have noticed at work that everyone is either going on a trip or just got back from a trip, and also every time I see anyone they ask what's new and ... nothing is. Nothing is ever new with me. I got a really prettily designed box of Kleenex the other day? I returned a David Sedaris book to the library without finishing it because it seemed boring which was a change from how I felt reading his other books? I deep-cleaned my shower stall and am waiting on a new shower liner? I don't really have anything going on. I almost never do. Maybe once every month or two I get together with relatives, and maybe 3-ish times a year I get together with a friend. I read library books, go for walks, watch Youtube, etc.

I volunteer once a week, and sometimes after I get home from that, I don't talk out loud from Saturday until the following Thursday when I go into my office. Wait, sometimes on a walk I'll ask to pet a cute dog. Is anyone else like me, just quietly humming along not doing much of anything?

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

Me, too. And I like it that way.

[Anonymous]

A nice, calm, slow pace of life...🥰. (Which is pretty much the exact opposite of my work life...😉)

[Anonymous]

Yes. You are alone but not alone. Maybe you could get a dog.

[Anonymous]

I'm like you, OP.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but for reasons different from yours. When I was married, my life was chaotic; my ex was toxic, and we were in deep debt. Once I left the marriage, I fixed everything about my life that I wasn't content with, and it took years to fix.

I actually overcorrected and, as a result, became boring and hyper-aware. My bills are paid on time, I have little debt, lost 80 lbs. and have kept it off for 6 years. I rarely date because men don't interest me much, and I find they cause more trouble than they are worth. I adore my boring and peaceful life and would not trade it for anything.

[Anonymous]

No. But I'm terrible at cleaning my shower, so tbh I wish I were you. And that is not sarcasm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but for reasons different from yours. When I was married, my life was chaotic; my ex was toxic, and we were in deep debt. Once I left the marriage, I fixed everything about my life that I wasn't content with, and it took years to fix.

I actually overcorrected and, as a result, became boring and hyper-aware. My bills are paid on time, I have little debt, lost 80 lbs. and have kept it off for 6 years. I rarely date because men don't interest me much, and I find they cause more trouble than they are worth. I adore my boring and peaceful life and would not trade it for anything.

I hope to be you in a few years.

[Anonymous]

I’m pretty boring. I like my life. Mellow, even balanced life.

[Anonymous]

I'm not always content with it because I feel society is kind of judgey about it, but a lot of people are dull. There's even a Facebook group for it.

[Anonymous]

I’m a married mom of two teens and we do travel, but the rest is definitely true. I don’t like shopping. My favorite things to do are read and watch tv. I actually get stressed out by the busyness of my teens but it makes them happy so I deal. I rarely leave the house unless it’s related to them or grocery shopping. Also, I love my minivan and my comfortable shoes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. You are alone but not alone. Maybe you could get a dog.

Oh, I SO wish I could! Unfortunately I live in a tiny rent-controlled apartment in a crappy area, and if I moved I'd have to pay about ... $600-800 more, which I can't afford.

[Anonymous]

Books & walks - that’s my jam.

I have felt awkward at work, because I do work with a few people who are always traveling, or have these kind of drama filled lives.i don’t really want to have their lives, but I have felt kind of without a response when they ask me what’s going on with me.

But after years of observing others, I’ve realized there are a lot of us out there. The key to not feeling awkward at the office small talk is to just pick something that you can share about. I’ve seen people who were into gardening - or who knows, maybe they didn’t really care about it that much, but they had a couple of tomato plants & would report on that. A pet is a big thing, people will talk about what is going on with their pet, the funny thing they did or whatever. One coworker was into making cookies, & she’d say that she tried a new recipe. Another had a bird feeder, & she’d talk about being happy she set up the feeder, or how expensive it is getting, etc.

These were all women, as am I. & it just made me realize that a lot of us just do pretty normal stuff.

So I kind of learned 2 lessons from this - feel free to talk about what normal stuff you do. Like the David Sedaris book - I would be totally interested to hear what book of his that you found sub-par. And about your shower - isn’t it annoying how quickly you have to replace a liner? Can’t they invent something better? And your volunteering - what happened this wk?

And lesson 2 is, if the work small talk is making you feel awkward, find a topic you like well enough & can provide a canned response when necessary. Books, baking, birds, gardening, walks, etc. it does not even have to be something you really care all that much. But if you cook for yourself sometimes, you can talk about how you tried a new recipe & hated it.

TLDR, your life sounds lovely. If you are feeling awkward at work making small talk with coworkers who are vacationing around the world, just find what you would like to share. In my experience, any sharing with a positive intention is welcomed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Books & walks - that’s my jam.

I have felt awkward at work, because I do work with a few people who are always traveling, or have these kind of drama filled lives.i don’t really want to have their lives, but I have felt kind of without a response when they ask me what’s going on with me.

But after years of observing others, I’ve realized there are a lot of us out there. The key to not feeling awkward at the office small talk is to just pick something that you can share about. I’ve seen people who were into gardening - or who knows, maybe they didn’t really care about it that much, but they had a couple of tomato plants & would report on that. A pet is a big thing, people will talk about what is going on with their pet, the funny thing they did or whatever. One coworker was into making cookies, & she’d say that she tried a new recipe. Another had a bird feeder, & she’d talk about being happy she set up the feeder, or how expensive it is getting, etc.

These were all women, as am I. & it just made me realize that a lot of us just do pretty normal stuff.

So I kind of learned 2 lessons from this - feel free to talk about what normal stuff you do. Like the David Sedaris book - I would be totally interested to hear what book of his that you found sub-par. And about your shower - isn’t it annoying how quickly you have to replace a liner? Can’t they invent something better? And your volunteering - what happened this wk?

And lesson 2 is, if the work small talk is making you feel awkward, find a topic you like well enough & can provide a canned response when necessary. Books, baking, birds, gardening, walks, etc. it does not even have to be something you really care all that much. But if you cook for yourself sometimes, you can talk about how you tried a new recipe & hated it.

TLDR, your life sounds lovely. If you are feeling awkward at work making small talk with coworkers who are vacationing around the world, just find what you would like to share. In my experience, any sharing with a positive intention is welcomed.

This post does a good job of summing it up. I work with people who try to force a culture of "oh we are competitive, exciting people" who frequently travel and talk about hiring other competitive athletes and world travelers. I myself am a dull person compared to them but I make small chit chat and i also ask them a lot about themselves, but I don't feel obligated to be like them or even to like them on a deep level, just get along as coworkers.