Sparking JOMO

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Sparking JOMO | Columbia SC Moms BlogIn the past, “FOMO” has been all the rage – the fear of missing out. This can mainly be attributed to the evolution of social media, or the whole “if a tree falls in the forest, and no one hears it, did it really fall?” versus “if I did something outside the confines of my home, and I didn’t document it on social media somehow, did it really happen?”

We are all guilty of this, it’s our society, the way we live in this day and age. We scan through our feeds, lamenting about our own boring lives, pining for the opportunity to document a night of fun, or a day antiquing, or even a princess/bouncy-house/face-painting/catered/open bar two-year-old’s’ birthday party. It’s terrible for our self-esteem, it does not spark joy, Marie Kondo would most definitely want you to cut it out. Nevertheless, the cycle continues.

With an amazing stroke of luck, the fads of popular culture have FINALLY swung in my favor. After years of watching myself fail at keeping up with trends, (I just started wearing booties right, I still love Vera Bradley, and I am allergic to Beauty Counter) I am at long-last having my moment. Self-care, the “art of tidying up”, obsessive pantry organization, and lastly JOMO are all the rage!

The term JOMO was coined by the Indian entrepreneur Anil Dash, who was quoted as enjoying time at home with his son more than time spent socializing. With a few minor edits (wink, wink), JOMO is all over social media. The Joy Of Missing Out, or JOMO, gives all of us introverted extroverts the excuse we have been waiting for to stay in the comfort of our own homes, doing the things we enjoy the most – and topping the list: not interacting with the outside world.

All of us work extremely hard. Stay-at-moms, lawyers, doctors, teachers, marketing specialists, people who have kids, people who don’t have kids, all of us! Days are starting earlier and earlier, the pace is faster and faster, and free time is minimized.

Fitting all of the things we need to do, let alone what we want to do, is next to impossible. Feeling obligated to get dressed up, go over first names and spouses with your significant other in the car on the way to said event, thinking of witty conversation topics – I don’t know, maybe I’m an anomaly, but it’s exhausting!

This is not to stay that I am an actual hermit, and only come out from under my Fraggle Rock when I go to work, but I am talking about the things you feel obligated to do, as opposed to the things you look forward to or want to do – what does NOT spark joy.

Before JOMO, you had two options: attend the meeting, the event, the dinner, the party, etc. be stressed about it, and maintain a 50/50 chance of having a good time depending on your overall attitude, OR not going and feeling guilty about it.

Enter JOMO, the guilt is gone! You can now happily scroll through your Instagram feed with your charcoal mask applied, Netflix in the background, lunches packed for tomorrow in the fridge, the kitchen cleaned, clothes set out for the next morning marathon, and embracing the joy that you, in fact, missed out.

Are you embracing the JOMO trend?

1 COMMENT

  1. Rebecca, enjoyed your article! Want real JOMO? Leave at home/turn off your phone for a day! Such a treat and quite liberating.

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