“I’m bored!” Chilling words that most, if not all, parents have heard raising children. However, what I heard as a parent was, “Entertain me!”

I felt irresponsible if I didn’t respond by occupying them. Wasn’t that my parental responsibility – to guide and educate – not abandon my children when they are bored?

“…We could do with a little less excitement,” says Pamela Paul in her excellent New York Times Opinion article, “Let Children Get Bored Again.” She points out that not long ago “during the lost age of under parenting, grown-ups thought a certain amount of boredom was appropriate. And children came to appreciate their empty agendas.”

Both as a parent and science mentor, I have tried to recognize the thin line between giving room for dormant abilities to sprout – encourage latent skills and untapped potential to develop – and frustrated paralysis of not knowing how to proceed, when, of course, some help is required.

Pamela makes the case that “boredom spawns creativity and self-sufficiency…flights of fantasy… self-discipline…resourcefulness.” She says, boredom is an unavoidable part of every activity throughout life, so might as well learn to deal with it. That’s an education in itself.

I agree. I believe that it’s wise to give enough space to encourage self-sufficiency and confidence and allow innovation.

The many faces of boredom are prevalent in everything we do. Boredom is the space where the gems reside. It’s the morass that must be crossed to reach the glitter dancing on the horizon or buried in the jungle, whether it’s experiments in the laboratory or stories to be written. Boredom is the wrapping around the treasure in the package.

When, for me, boredom masquerades as a blank page (and it often does), I remind myself that, finally, I have an opportunity to discover something new or to write something unexpected. That type of boredom is the fuel that runs the engine. I think that’s what Einstein meant when he said it wouldn’t be called research if he knew what he was doing.

Boredom, confusion, a free mind, space to be filled or time to be occupied, filled with uncertainty, worry and self-doubt, those are the guts of creativity. My advice? Don’t disregard boredom; respect it, use it.

Perhaps I’m most creative when I’m bored. I wouldn’t have it any other way!