7 Years 131 days - Beautiful Boredom

7 Years 131 days - Beautiful Boredom

Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? Here, Australian comedian David Boyle gives a fast, funny and brutally honest peek into his daily life seven-plus years alcohol-free, all in about five minutes. This time, he realises the problem isn’t a lack of hours in the day – it’s his phone.

Up early and already through his to‑do list, he clocks the “sickening realisation” that, as he puts it, “maybe it’s not the world, maybe it’s just me, maybe I’ve always been the fucking problem.” With his phone off-limits, he finds himself just staring at the coffee machine, wrestling with the urge to scroll. That enforced boredom turns into the big theme.

Boyle calls boredom “the juice of life”, arguing that if you’re constantly entertained, “why would anything of substance exit your being?” For anyone in recovery who’s terrified of empty time, his take on boredom as a gateway to creativity and slowness might hit home.

He talks about getting back to the gym after health issues, easing himself in and testing “the scar tissue”, and shares how much more time he suddenly has: “it feels like I’ve been doing this for like 20 minutes, it’s been like five.” Another thread is his morning pages practice from *The Artist’s Way*.

Writing three pages first thing, he notices a surprising pattern: “it turns out that I am like super religious… it’s all about God… God God God God God God.” He jokes about a possible pivot to pastor, mufti, rabbi or monk, keeping things light even while he’s clearly digging into who he really is without booze and without constant digital noise.

Boyle wraps with a focus on setting boundaries so he doesn’t slide back into phone addiction and mentions heading back to improv class – a reminder that recovery can be structured, creative and occasionally very funny. Makes you wonder: what might boredom open up for you?