Pamela Paul on the anesthetizing effects of boredom:

Once you’ve truly settled into the anesthetizing effects of boredom, you find yourself en route to discovery. With monotony, small differences begin to emerge, between those trees, those sweaters. This is why so many useful ideas occur in the shower, when you’re held captive to a mundane activity. You let your mind wander and follow it where it goes.

Pamela Druckerman on how to survive your 40s:

These days, when I think, “Someone should really do something about that,” I realize with alarm that that “someone” is me.