Is anyone else boring and mostly content with it?

[Anonymous]

Everyone is boring! Just because someone travels a lot doesn't make them an interesting person.
I have a cousin who has been absolutely everywhere but she is not exactly bright and not at all a fascinating conversationalist, though she is kind. She just managed all her life to get men to take her to exotic places. I think of the song "Come Fly with Me" like her theme song.
I also had a coworker with an unbelievable resume and movie star looks who was truly kind of boring to talk to. She was just extremely serious and humorless. But if someone told you what she had accomplished in life you'd be stunned.
Outwardly I'm sure I'm a very boring person but I am never bored.

[Anonymous]

You are correlating being “interesting” only with travel. There are so many other aspects that make people interesting. Some people who travel a lot can also be boring, and there are those who do not travel often who lead interesting lives, have interests / hobbies / passions. You may be boring, but it’s not cause you don’t travel, or maybe you’re not boring but since the others speak only of travel, you can’t relate.

[Anonymous]

Work is the most interesting thing about me. I don’t travel very much but have a small family. Also people know about my hobby so sometimes they ask me about that. There are times when I don’t leave my house for days. I wish I walked more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are correlating being “interesting” only with travel. There are so many other aspects that make people interesting. Some people who travel a lot can also be boring, and there are those who do not travel often who lead interesting lives, have interests / hobbies / passions. You may be boring, but it’s not cause you don’t travel, or maybe you’re not boring but since the others speak only of travel, you can’t relate.

You're right. It's that I don't really do anything interesting, and when people ask what's new I'm tired of saying variations of nothing. I WANT something to be new. I want to go somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Ironically, I found your account of your boring life strangely fascinating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ironically, I found your account of your boring life strangely fascinating.

It's very Eleanor Oliphant, isn't it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Same. I once was talking with new work acquaintances who were into competitive fitness and they mentioned how their new bicycles cost more than a car. I rolled my eyes internally and externally smiled and asked them about the bicycle performance and features. I rarely talk about myself and people rarely ask.

[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.

#goals

[Anonymous]

I love my boring life.

[Anonymous]

Me too.

Check this out.

I have a VR headset that I use to "travel." On my lunch hour, I've "traveled" to outer space, hiked the Grand Canyon, explored Kenya and enjoyed a Finnish sauna with two very attractive 20-something locals. A part of me feels like I was actually there--I can describe what these experiences looked like, felt like, sounded like...and my memory sometimes tricks me into thinking I was there. In actual reality a few months ago, I was in an Uber in Chicago. I struck up a conversation with the driver who was from Kenya---we talked about Nairobi and he burst out in hysterics when I told him I didn't actually travel to Nairobi--I just went there in my VR headset on my lunch hour.

But I felt connected to him--and, isn't that the point of travel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of job do you (and others on here) have? Just curious, as I find it very tiring to be extroverted just for work. I have to be though.

Not Op but I think I’m boring too. I’m an elementary school teacher. I can easily go 2 the first 2 weeks of summer vacation without speaking to anyone outside of my immediate family. It’s like I finally get to shut down a bit. This has also gotten more pronounced as I get older/ have been teaching longer.

[Anonymous]

Those travelers are contributing immensely to pollution. You can thank yourself that you are not.

[Anonymous]

I’m you and happy.

[Anonymous]

I live an intense life. I have a lot of activities going on, I like to travel, I have a big house to clean.

Often I do want to slow down and live a small life, but then I feel like I’m not living up to my potential.

[Anonymous]

Living small does not equate to boring, PP.