Being curious (i.e., nosy),
I wondered what JOMO was? Not even a clue. Thank goodness for Google!
JOMO = The Joy of Missing
Out. Definitions are slightly different depending on the source; however, I
have concluded that it simply means living in the moment and finding joy in
your own life without feeling you are missing out on something because other
people are enjoying their own lives.
Here is my favorite of the definitions
I came across because the Psychology Today writer (Kristen Fuller, MD) goes
into more detail:
“JOMO (the joy of missing out) is the emotionally intelligent antidote to FOMO* and is essentially about being
present and being content with where you are at in life. You do not need to
compare your life to others but instead, practice tuning out the background
noise of the “shoulds” and “wants” and learn to let go of worrying whether you
are doing something wrong. JOMO allows us to live life in the slow lane, to
appreciate human connections, to be intentional with our time, to practice
saying “no,” to give ourselves “tech-free breaks,” and to give us permission to
acknowledge where we are and to feel emotions, whether they are positive or
negative. Instead of constantly trying to keep up with the Jones’, JOMO allows
us to be who we are in the present moment, which is the secret to finding
happiness. When you free up that competitive and anxious space in your brain,
you have so much more time, energy and emotion to conquer your true priorities.”
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/happiness-is-state-mind/201807/jomo-the-joy-missing-out
Check out the article as the introduction is a terrific poem
about the joy of missing out by Michael Leunig.
*FOMO is the Fear Of Missing
Out and occurs when we feel we are missing something because other’s lives are ‘better’
or more exciting. The resources I read blame this on social media such as
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. However, when I was growing up in the late 1950’s
and the 1960’s, BEFORE social media, a common childhood theme was about not envying
others. Personally, this is not something I struggle with, I think everyone
should live their own best lives. I do not write to make others feel envious, I
write to shed light on how I live. I appreciate it when other people share
their lives, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Granted social media may make
FOMO more apparent and worse because there is the potential to compare our lives
to and envy more people – even complete strangers.
My joyful moment today was
in discovering that the concept of JOMO exists; That there are words for a practice
I engage in regularly. I credit a part of my own JOMO attitude to practicing
meditation for the past eight years and it has helped me to live in the moment and
to deal with anxiety during a difficult year. It was the year that sucked! Life
is what life is though. I dealt with it as healthily as I could. Learning to
breathe through meditation helped tremendously and taught me to live in the moment
and appreciate the moment for what it was.
What are your thoughts on JOMO?
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