Muße in relation to boredom
There is a difference between ‘how to do nothing’[1] and ‘having nothing to do’[2]. One is trying to not get caught up in the artificial busyness of life, while the other is struggling with boredom due to a lack of resources or inability to concentrate. Hence if busy people suddenly stop what they are doing, they might not experience Muße but boredom, which is ‘the arch-enemy of wellbeing’[3]. As Blaise Pascal pointed out: ‘I have often said that the sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room. … That is why men are so fond of hustle and bustle.’[4] This ability to stay quietly in a room without feeling bored or restless is also an aspect of Muße.
[1] Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, (New York: Melville House
Publishing, 2019)
[2] Louise Farnworth, Doing, Being, and Boredom, Journal of Occupational Science, 5:3 (1998),
pp.140 -146
[3] Ibid, p.143
[4] Blaise Pascal, Pensées, (London: Penguin, 1995), p.37