I have this wonderful friend who emigrated from Germany to Scotland many years ago in her early twenties. At a time when my own English was terrible and I was so afraid of all non-German languages that I couldn't even ask for directions to the beach at the reception desk of a Spanish holiday hotel without dying inside. Despite different mental struggles, my friend started a new life in a new country, applied for an online college to successfully graduate with a bachelor's degree, she found a place to stay in Edinburgh on her own, worked in call centers, modeled on the side, and taught herself several traditional crafts such as bread baking and herbalism. At some point, she got a fluffy dog, and now she's an outdoor hobbit who is a member of the Polar Bear Club and camps on beaches. And it was this very same young woman who wrote to me not too long ago: “Oh, not much is happening in my life, it's pretty boring.”

I thought I had cotton in my ears. I wanted to shake her, wake her up, and laugh at the same time. Was she serious?!

And she's not the only one I hear saying this over and over again: My life is boring.

What gives us this feeling? Why do we always need to compare ourselves to others? How we can get away from the idea that our lives are boring and meaningless?