Need a break? Try JOMO!
Yesterday I did a blog post on the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), a concept that many may have not been too familiar but some agreed that we all may experience from time to time.
Can JOMO be attained?
The opposite of FOMO is JOMO - Joy of Missing Out. You might ask, how can one find joy in missing out on something that most might find pleasurable or valuable?
Well....ideally, what others may find joy in doing, does not mean that you do as well. Therefore, JOMO refers to the pleasure of enjoying whatever you're currently doing vs worrying that others might be having more fun.
According to Cyberdefinitions, "FOMO is far more common than JOMO and an older term. JOMO has its origins in FOMO and came about as an antonym".
Psychology Today says that JOMO is the emotionally intelligent antidote for FOMO. In essence, being comfortable in your own happiness, doing and fulfilling your own life as you want it to be without comparing it to the lives and activities of others. It's amazing how our conditioning, life experiences and environment influence how we approach happiness and fulfillment on our own terms.
In an ideal world, JOMO might become second nature to most of us. However, the advent of social media, news feeds, status updates, memes and breaking news, have impacted our ability to truly find joy right where we are. The familiar adage 'the grass is always greener on the other side', becomes a reality and we find ourselves less happy with where we are and wondering about the greener grass across the fence.
Fortunately, as the antithesis of FOMO, the joy of missing out can symbolise the relief from the frenetic pace of modern life, the breathless and guild-laden need to be continually connected and switched on. JOMO allows us to stop and smell the proverbial roses and savour the aroma of being still in that moment and actually preferring to be there than to be on the greener grass with so many other hustling souls.
Proudly living life in the slow lane isn't so bad after all. There really is nothing wrong with deriving pleasure from social exclusion sometimes. We need a break from time to time and it's ok to take it. Paradoxically, JOMO in essence might be considered a 'wellbeing concept' that allows us to take a step back, take off the shackles of overwork and mental exertion and simply turn the fear into joy.
At the end of the day, we might just find that JOMO allows us to reclaim one of our most valuable resources - time.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this blog post. If it has struck a cord with you, please feel free to comment below. I'd love to hear from you.
Cheers!
Maria
Recent Comments
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I'm not doing anything I want to be doing right now, like being by the beach or going boating, so there's that!
JOMO sounds a lot better than FOMO for me personally Maria!
I enjoy living life in the slow lane whenever possible.
Moving forward at a speed we are all happy with can lead to a much better balanced and eventually happy life, I'm all for that!
Thanks for the great post and info as always my friend and enjoy a wonderful week!:-)
Hi Nick. I'm with you on JOMO and the pace of life. Personally, keeping up with the Joneses is just not my speed. I much prefer the slow and leisurely lane of life like you!
It's almost mid-week and hoping you've had a great one so far. Enjoy the rest! Cheers!
Maria
Cheers Maria! I'm certainly not one for keeping up with the Joneses too!
It's Hump day today so have a fantastic one my friend!🐫
That I definitely don't have!
If I want to have fun, there's nothing to stop me
In fact, I make sure that I watch my soaps for at least 2 - 4 hours daily, depending on what soap is on
Nothing should stand in the way of me enjoying myself.
If then, I would be suffering from FOMO 😆
How many hours in the day do you have anyway?!! Work, soaps, online business and daily blogs on WA? Girl, whatever you got going you better bottle it and sell it! You'd be a millionaire tomorrow! 😂😂
Maria
Lol
It doesn't matter how tired I am I need to unwind
I do it with soaps, playing dominoes with the kids or a 3 plus hour phone call once weekly to my friend in America
Maria, if we don't unwind we will have mental health issues
WA blogs just take 2 -3 mins max. That will never count as time.
Like today, I did it while at work. It doesn't count as time.
But I have to unwind. Work is very challenging and anything else is much appreciated and needed
Your WA blogs take 2-3 minutes?!!! Ok....now THAT you need to bottle and sell! Hell, if I could do a blog in 3 minutes I'll be JOMO too!!! 😂😂😂
Lol
Yes, they do
That's the reason I don't blog unless I am inspired!
It would be a struggle otherwise
Hey
It is not always easy.
Especially with attachments, how would someone pan out?
Tricky to me.
But thank you.
I appreciate your blog post.
Lula
Trust me, I know it's not easy! Very tricky but worth trying every once in a while. We just need to reconnect with self. Thanks for reading and commenting Lula!
Maria
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I truly believe with both FOMO AND JOMO, social media has a huge impact. Young people are affected the worst and sometimes to their own demise. It's so very sad. We must do better training our young folks and keep them positive within themselves and not feel like they need validation from others. Nice blog, Maria.
~Debbi
Thanks for reading the blog Debbi. Technology on the whole has really impacted how we see the world. Makes you wonder how the next decade or more will be influenced by developments and innovation.
Maria
Honesty, Maria, I think it's scary!