I’m bored only when I’m trapped in a situation that I can’t escape from and I have no resources of my own; for example, in a waiting room without a magazine. If I have something to write or draw on and with, or something to read, I’m fine. And sometimes I do choose to stop and be still with my own thoughts and just look at the grass or a tree or the sky. But choosing it and being trapped with it are two different things. Boredom as such doesn’t seem to have any purpose; it’s just a waste product.
I don’t see entertainment as an antidote to boredom at all. Entertainment can be the most boring thing there is. Commitment to something—engagement in something, commitment to a project or a purpose, meaningful activity—this is one bulwark against boredom. And another is a rich inner life, alive with interesting thoughts and fueled by an accumulation of reading, knowledge, experience, and observation.