From FOMO to JOMO
Don't overcomplicate things
In The High Price of Materialism, Tim Kasser says, “I can think of no wiser financial investment than in self-knowledge. It is the path to freedom, at many levels. By sorting through painful past experiences, irrational beliefs, and unacknowledged fears, people can become free of these chains and find healthier ways of coping than making money and consuming things”.
Or, as Socrates supposedly said, ”The unexamined life is not worth living”.
For those of you who don’t know, FOMO stands for Fear Of Missing Out, and I propose that we forge a path that takes us to JOMO: Joy Of Missing Out.
As Aldous Huxley says in Brave New World, “One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.”
FOMO is a socially conditioned behaviour which has become programmed into us by clever advertising and other cultural forces to keep us buying and consuming over entering into stillness and human connection. After all, stillness does not make anyone money.
FOMO is distraction: we distract ourselves from the struggle of being human
JOMO is connection: we embrace our humanity in all its shapes and forms
To make it clear, I’m not suggesting that we all become tree-huggers living off the land in the forest.
I like toilets, showers, quality clothing, positive progress in terms of curing cancer and climate change, occasionally some Netflix and a nice lunch out. At the same time, so many mental health issues are rooted in people working more than they should to afford a costly lifestyle, which probably does not make them content.
I also understand that living in a city like London or any other big city is quite expensive, even affording the basis. Does everything really need to be so expensive? That is the flipside of this argument, although, I still think we don’t need to consume as much as we do.
All in all, I know that it is a hard nut to crack. However, I still think there is probably room in most people’s lives to simplify a little bit and really get to the roots of understanding whether your needs are authentically yours if you behave that way because you have been manipulated to have them.
You have to ask yourself, is all the work worth it? Or could you simplify a little bit, work a little less and then have time actually to be present with those you love and care for? And move towards JOMO.
I suggest finding joy in the simple stuff:
Getting enough sleep
Meditation
Walking
Reading
Being with the people you love
Exercising
Feeling rested
Being emotionally available
Get comfortable with a sense of nothingness