Dull Clubs embrace the mundane. What we can learn from their members on finding joy, friends and fulfillment.

Have you ever scrolled through your Instagram feed and become so immediately exhausted by the glamorous-looking lives of friends and influencers alike that you’ve said to yourself, Screw it, I’m never going to keep up with all these trends — I should just lean into being … boring? If social media overload has got you feeling like it’s high time to embrace the uncool, there’s a Dull Club out there for you.

Although self-proclaimed “Dull Clubs” embracing the mundane and ordinary have been around for decades, there’s been a recent surge in media coverage and social chatter surrounding them. But what even are these clubs, and what’s the appeal for those who join — and the many who have been active in them since as far back as the 1980s?

Here’s what mental health experts, and the people who actually belong to these clubs, say about their significance in terms of fostering friendship and building social connections — and the surprising power of the uncool.

The Dull Club’s origin story

“It began some years ago, in New York City,” Leland “Lee” Carlson, who goes by the pen name Grover Click, tells Yahoo Life. He’s the founder of the first-known Dull Men’s Club, whose story began in 1988 at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan. Click was there with some friends, who all felt overwhelmed by the club options: “There was the boxing club, the judo club, the fencing club, the wrestling club,” he says. “One of my mates said, ‘Well, we don’t do any of those things.’ So I said, ‘We’re kind of dull, aren’t we? Let’s start a Dull Men’s Club.’”

And an icon was born. What activities did the Dull Men’s Club do? “We’d ride the elevators to see which one was the fastest,” Click shares. “We’d charter a bus. It wouldn’t go anywhere, but the driver would take us around and tell us about the tire pressure, and we’d watch the windshield wipers go.”

New York Magazine called the original club “a club for Dull Men to gather and wantonly discuss the unsexy details of their lives. … Dullness is for these members a bland blanket, a respite from an increasingly oversaturated, overprogrammed, over-whatevered world.” Click concurs, adding that his club’s purpose was and remains “anti- all the glitz and glam” and is about its “members celebrating the ordinary.”

The club’s initial iteration set the stage for what has become nearly four decades of delightful dullness, with over 40 spinoff groups on Facebook. The club members were initially all (white, middle-aged) men, but now comprise many different races and genders, ranging in age from 20 to 97.

Why members love their Dull Clubs

Dull Club members tell Yahoo Life that it’s helped them find purpose and meaning — not despite their mundane day-to-day lives, but because of them.

Rachel Williamson is a Dull Club member and so-called Britain’s dullest woman. The retired police officer spends her time “yarn-bombing,” aka creating knitted concoctions to place atop public mailboxes around Wales.

“I started making postbox toppers at the beginning of lockdown,” Williamson tells Yahoo Life. Her seemingly mundane creations started gaining popularity, and it wasn’t long before Click reached out to her. “He mentioned a calendar that he was putting together [for the Dull Club], and I agreed to send him some pictures of myself with the post box toppers for the calendar.”

“We have a word in England, an ‘anorak,’” explains Click, who is American by birth but has been living in the U.K. for many years. “Literally, it means a type of windbreaker, but Brits use it to describe a dull person.” The Dull Clubs give out awards for Anorak of the Year: a person with a dull hobby who had a particular impact. Williamson was awarded this honor during her first year in the club.

“I found it all very interesting,” she says. “I feel very privileged to be part of the club and certainly being Anorak of the Year.”

How boring got cool

Holistic psychiatrist Dr. Sham Singh says the increased interest in Dull Clubs “underlines an important shift in how people forge social bonds and friendships.” After all, in today’s world — rife with curated social media feeds and the pressure to be living an exciting, exceptional life at all times — “these clubs afford a haven for authenticity,” says Singh.

“The Dull Men’s Club is a refreshing antidote to the pressure to constantly be interesting,” agrees licensed clinical social worker Joshua Sprung. “This shared appreciation for simplicity fosters a sense of belonging and makes it easier for members to form meaningful connections rooted in honesty and humor.”

For many members, shrugging off the societal pressures to be “cool” or live an aspirational lifestyle can feel both comforting and liberating. Dull Clubs remind their members that life doesn’t have to be perfect or sparkly; it can simply be fulfilling.

Dull Clubs also offer “a non-competitive, pressure-free environment that fosters genuine friendships and social connections,” says psychotherapist Kristie Tse. “Members, often drawn to simplicity, find comfort in celebrating mundane activities … creating shared interests without the pretense of being trendy.”

The benefits of identifying as a ‘dullster’

“We’re not dullards; dullards are stupid,” Click clarifies. “We’re dullsters — the opposite of hipsters.”

Identifying as a “dullster” is more than just a playful term — it’s a statement. It’s about saying “no” to the idea that one should “be constantly innovative, unique or ‘on-trend,’” says Sprung. “Instead, it’s an embrace of life’s quieter, slower joys.”

Here are a few reasons why more and more folks are leaning into this identity and what they’re gaining from it:

• Pressure-free living. “Life as a dullster lets people step off the treadmill of constant self-promotion and performance,” says Sprung. And isn’t it a relief to enjoy life without trying to impress anyone?

• Inclusivity. Psychiatric nurse practitioner Shebna N. Osanmoh says another draw of Dull Clubs is that they “don’t require exceptional talent or high-energy participation, so a broader range of people can spend time there discussing ordinary things about their lives.” This can help those who might feel overwhelmed in more competitive environments to feel included.

• Improved mental well-being. Dullsters celebrate the things that genuinely interest them, no matter how mundane, whether that’s Williamson’s postboxes or a perfect cup of tea. There’s a focus on authenticity and acceptance, which is freeing “for those feeling trapped by conventional social expectations,” Tse explains. “This approach can stabilize mental well-being by affirming individual identity.”

• Connection and community. “Identifying as a dullster builds camaraderie with others with the same mindset,” says Sprung. Therapist Joseph Cavins agrees. He says the clubs’ popularity is “a reflection of the yearning for companionship and friendship in a society where excitement and novelty are valued more.”

• Humor — and gentle rebellion. In a culture obsessed with being “interesting,” embracing dullness is a bit of a wink — a lighthearted countercultural stance in which the joke is on the mainstream. “It flips the script, making dullness something to be proud of rather than ashamed of,” says Sprung.

The bottom line

Dull Clubs are about finding contentment in the unremarkable, which in turn lets their members transform their everyday lives into sources of connection, humor, pride and purpose.

“Being a ‘dullster’ is quite exciting!” Osanmoh concludes. “It is about being present at the moment and taking the time to appreciate the good things that are happening around us … embracing the practical, transient and ordinary elements of life.”

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