JOMO arigato...
10/21 '14
It just occurred to me that I haven't looked at Facebook for a full 10 days. I turned off my notifcations eons ago. I don't care who tagged me in something. If you sent me a FB message, you're someone I don't care about since the people I DO care about know not to contact me there. I don't care if I miss event invites... they're all invitations to people's bands that I have never heard and never will since they only use Facebook to market themselves. (If you can't be bothered putting more effort into your marketing than a single FB invite, then I can't be bothered giving a crap.)
I have friends who are glued to Facebook; many (not all) have FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. Fear that they won't know what someone had for lunch. Fear they won't see whatever. Fear they won't be able to tell the world their vaguebook status. I just don't care. I am NOT judging those who like FB-- it has much wider reach than most everything else, which is part of its appeal. I just don't care. I did fine for the past 30 years not knowing what Sandy, a person I haven't talked to in 25 years, was doing while her daughters were at ballet.
Enter One Post Wonder, which coincides perfectly with a new acronym I learned: JOMO: Joy of Missing Out. I am more than happy to spend my days off simply lounging in bed with my beau as the world does what they do all day. I'm totally OK with missing out on all of that.
OPW gives me the right amount of interaction. I really am grateful for it.
I don't see giving up LJ yet, but I do cross-post a lot, and that's OK for me for now.
Anyway, I'm way overdue for bed... I'm teaching a hellish class this week with my allergies in hella overdrive, so every sentence is punctuated with a sniffle or a wipe with a hanky. (Yes, I carry a hanky now. I'm old.) This is a 5-day class, so i'll be home late Friday night with a gig at Melodies Cafe in Ardmore, PA (2 Lancaster Ave if memory serves) on the 25th. Looking forward to it.
JOMO. Google it. Feels good.
I have friends who are glued to Facebook; many (not all) have FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. Fear that they won't know what someone had for lunch. Fear they won't see whatever. Fear they won't be able to tell the world their vaguebook status. I just don't care. I am NOT judging those who like FB-- it has much wider reach than most everything else, which is part of its appeal. I just don't care. I did fine for the past 30 years not knowing what Sandy, a person I haven't talked to in 25 years, was doing while her daughters were at ballet.
Enter One Post Wonder, which coincides perfectly with a new acronym I learned: JOMO: Joy of Missing Out. I am more than happy to spend my days off simply lounging in bed with my beau as the world does what they do all day. I'm totally OK with missing out on all of that.
OPW gives me the right amount of interaction. I really am grateful for it.
I don't see giving up LJ yet, but I do cross-post a lot, and that's OK for me for now.
Anyway, I'm way overdue for bed... I'm teaching a hellish class this week with my allergies in hella overdrive, so every sentence is punctuated with a sniffle or a wipe with a hanky. (Yes, I carry a hanky now. I'm old.) This is a 5-day class, so i'll be home late Friday night with a gig at Melodies Cafe in Ardmore, PA (2 Lancaster Ave if memory serves) on the 25th. Looking forward to it.
JOMO. Google it. Feels good.
MORE
This is like quitting smoking. We need banners with a countdown!
There has been much less drama in my life since then. I appreciate my little corner of the world more.
I wonder if antibiotics will help.
I don't always think of FOMO in terms of glowing rectangles, either.
Like, I first learned the term at Flipside, which is Austin's regional Burning Man event. It only lasts 4 nights (vs.the 7 nights at BMan) so after I've partied two nights in a row and my body is begging for a night off and telling me to go back to my tent, my FOMO forces me to stay out and have a shitt time because I'm exhausted instead of friggin' sleeping. I mean, what if something cool happened and I didn't get to see it or be in the group photo or hear that DJ? I was struggling with that one night at Flipside in 2009 or 2010 (I can't remember-- it was the year we burned ISH... MattL knows the year I'm talking about), and one of our campmates simply said "FOMO." I asked what it meant, he explained, and I suddenly felt like it was OK to go nap and potentially miss stuff.
These days, I'm a homebody, and am more than happy to bask in the JOMO. Let the world spin, parties and all, without me. I can either feel bad about not attending, or I can give myself permission to be present and in the moment at home, even if I'm doing what looks like nothing. It's my time, and I'm not gonna allow myself to feel badly about missing stuff.
Also: now that I finally understand the definition of "introvert" and realize that I am HELLA introverted, my JOMO is only getting deeper. I'm teaching 8 hours a day pouring my energy out to everyone; and then I'm in the studio giving all my energy and passion as I create arrangements, collaborate, and sing; and then I'm on stage giving my energy out to everyone... and I recharge my batteries by being alooooone. I need it desperately... even moreso the older I get. I won't feel guilty for saying "No, thanks."
It makes me happy to know that you write. I remember you said (this year? Last year?) that you wanted to write more, and the world needs more Shelle writing. The world makes sense to me if I know you're writing, even if it's something I'll never see. Just like I always used to get happy when you'd do your RWP and sometimes the W also stood for "Wearing" and you mentioned argyll socks. I don't know why that makes me so happy, but there you have it.
#thisisverylong
#iloveyou
#okbye
And these days
#okshutupjill
I've noticed some crossposting going on and I like it.
#soundsdirty
#yupIjusthashtaggedthisbizzleknowingitdoesnothing
#feelingdumb