What do Celebrities do When They're Bored?

A Reflection on Purpose.

---

I took a break from writing reflection essays, but now they’re back!

Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement for any songs coming out…

But in the meantime, enjoy this latest essay on Purpose!

---

Every once in a while, I wonder what celebrities do when they get bored. Or what they do when not working on an album, movie or memoir - since every one and their mother seems to think they need a memoir now.

Do they actually walk through their perfectly-pruned garden? Or are the flowers just for the house tours? Do they back float in their pools and contemplate the cosmos on a hot, sunny day? Or is the crystal clear water just there to reflect a perfect hair and makeup day?

Seriously, what is that pink glowy thing?

And an even more important question I find myself wondering a lot, is, has Taylor Swift even been in every single room of her many homes? I seriously wonder that. It keeps me up at night.

But alas, I am not writing this to entertain you with all the questions that float through my head about celebrities and their life when it gets boring. Instead, I bring it up simply because it brings me to a much more serious question about myself:

What do I do when I’m bored? And even more importantly, am I doing things just for fun? Or am I doing things because I’m trying to fill a void of unimportance?

When I get bored, I convince myself that there must be something I’m doing wrong. My life must not be important enough if there’s a moment of dullness, of nothing to do. If I had something important to bring to the world, I’d certainly never get bored, right?

Because also, since celebrities do so many “important” things, even when they get bored, it means something.

Funny though, because I’ve begun to firmly believe that celebrity status is incredibly stupid and completely meaningless.

So why do I think something so contradictory to that?

Well, I’ve thought about the idea of Purpose a lot, since the beginning of my writing journey, in fact; ever since I discovered that I could write songs and stories, I thought writing and singing alone was my Purpose - my God-given path that was to be followed to a tee. And when it wasn’t followed to a tee, I got down, I got depressed. And when I got bored, or when there was a day that I didn’t write, oh man, that was torture.

I used to be obsessed with the idea of Purpose. But now, years later - and with many years of growing - I’ve decided I don’t like it anymore.

Whenever there would be a sermon on finding one’s Purpose at church, I’d always sit up straighter, hoping the preacher would affirm my dreams of finding infinite meaning in writing. There, I’d rub my hands clean and say, my Purpose is writing, I’m set for life!

And Purpose doesn’t just apply to my writing; it can literally apply to anything we find joy in and give just a little bit of attention to:

Your job, your kids, your spouse, your very special hobby, your very unique passion, something that fills you with anger or happiness or bliss. Something that stops or speeds time for you. Maybe it’s an aesthetic or trend you immerse yourself in, anything really. Just fill in the blank.

But now when I think of hearing a sermon on what your Purpose is, I almost cringe because of what it means.

Yes, I understand it’s important to know what fills you with passion and to be aware of what you’re good at. But do we really need to turn something we’re passionate about or good at into our Purpose? Purpose is such a heavy word. An all or nothing type of thing. I thought my Purpose was writing, and I have yet to make money or a living off of it. I have yet for it to be my one and only thing. My thing. My identity.

And that brings me back to celebrities, and their very obvious Purpose.

We know actors act, we know singers sing and YouTubers YouTube, etc., etc.…

That’s their thing. Tom Cruise - quite literally - acts his ass off for the thrill of the cinema. The Kardashians change their faces and bodies for the poisonous beauty trends. That’s their thing.

But what does Tom Cruise do when he’s bored? Does he get bored?

What do the Kardashians - well, I’m sure I don’t have to think too hard about that one.

The point is, it’s hard to think that actors and singers do anything meaningless in their life, or do anything outside of their calling and passions that bring in the dough.

One of the reasons I think that many people - me included - are so drawn to Taylor Swift is because she does something specific, and she does it well; she writes songs, she performs, she is a powerhouse in the entertainment industry.

Again, that’s her thing.

I mean, don’t we want to do something and do it good? Don’t we want a trademark of sorts? Don’t we want others to look at us and say, Oh, ya that’s definitely her thing.

And God forbid we do something outside of that trademark and get bored.

At least that’s what I think.

But why do we need a Purpose? Why can’t, I don’t know, we have so many things we enjoy and are passionate about that don’t need deeper meanings?

What if we love our job but don’t make it our Purpose? What if we prioritize a hobby but don’t make it our Purpose? Or, even better, what if we love our job, raise our family, dabble in meaningless hobbies, and make all those things our Purpose?

Oh wait, I don’t like the word purpose. I’ll use Intentional instead.

Ok, so what if we are Intentional about every aspect of our life? Even boredom?

I know we love a trademark, but is that really necessary?

Why can’t our hobbies just be hobbies and stay that way?

I personally look forward to my writing so much more when I treat it as a hobby. When there’s no paywall, no subscriber count, no worry if my audience will like what I write…

Instead of thinking about my newest passion as something I could monetize or make something out of it, I just think, well why can’t it just be for fun? Why can’t I just be Intentional about it for no reason?

I’m aware that there are things that are important, and you can’t just do fun things for the fun of it all the time. But I also think we take way too many things way too seriously.

I really don’t like that.

Take Emma Chamberlain for example:

Her trademark - besides being a hilarious YouTuber - is coffee. She drinks an insane amount every day, and even made her own coffee brand cause coffee was so prevalent in her life.

I mean, who wouldn't want their own coffee brand??

But her most recent video was focused on baking a cake from scratch for her birthday.

I loved it, because it was something I usually think is so meaningless and boring…Baking a cake?? What’s the meaning in that?

But I liked her doing it for some reason, and it stuck with me. She was in the moment. She made a ton of mistakes, and I was inspired to do it myself, even if it meant nothing in the moment, if only for that magical word - Intention.

To me, there’s no insane purpose in baking a cake, but I can make it Intentional, and that sounds so much better to me.

It makes the “little things” in life sound so much more meaningful and special.

My writing may not amount to anything more than a very dear to heart hobby and passion of mine, but it sure does hold a buttload of Intention;)

---

But the question still remains, what do celebrities do when they’re bored?

Actually, I’m convinced they aren’t allowed to get bored.