The Death of Daydreaming - Insights From a Motivational Speaker

In a world that never lets us be bored, we’ve lost more than just patience—we’ve lost a portal to imagination.

Inspired by Christine Rosen’s brilliant essay “On The Death of Daydreaming” 

There was a time when a grandad could sit on the porch, stare into space, and solve the problems of the universe—without a screen, a swipe, or a notification in sight.

Now? We can’t even be bored at a red light without reaching for a smartphone. (Yes, even you, Brian. I saw you. At the roundabout.)

Christine Rosen makes a powerful case in her recent essay: in our crusade to kill boredom with smartphones, we’ve accidentally assassinated daydreaming, patience, and imagination.

Where once we stared out windows and made up stories in the clouds, we now doomscroll, click, and refresh ourselves into digital oblivion.

Even shepherds had worry beads. We’ve got Candy Crush.

But boredom, it turns out, had a purpose. It was the compost heap where creativity grew. It gave kids (and yes, grown-ups) the gift of wonder, anticipation, and a little thing called patience—remember that?

Now, even children are conditioned to believe that boredom is a problem that must be solved immediately. That quiet moments aren’t empty—they’re broken. 

But boredom isn’t a bug in childhood. It’s a feature. It’s where magic begins. It's what gives a grandad the idea to build a treehouse or teach a card trick. It’s the moment when a grandchild finally asks, “Pop, what’s it like to be old?” and you get to tell them the truth: “I’m not old. I’m just seasoned.”

Here’s the inconvenient truth: our kids won’t learn patience if we never let them wait.

They won’t discover curiosity if we fill every crack in their day with YouTube shorts.

They won’t become imaginative if we outsource their boredom to TikTok.

So here’s my gentle call to arms:

Let’s teach them to stare out the window again.

Let’s let their minds wander—because sometimes, the best ideas start out lost.

Let’s model idleness that isn’t lazy, but rich with potential.

Because when we rob children of boredom, we also rob them of resilience.

And frankly? We rob ourselves too.

So this week, be brave.

Be bold.

Be...bored.

🧠 Big thanks to Christine Rosen for the spark. Read her full piece here.