Remember When Nothing Was Enough?
Remember when we were kids, and summer afternoons stretched out endlessly, free of obligations, schedules, or that gnawing feeling that something was happening without us? We could lie on our backs and watch the clouds morph into dragons and ice cream cones, lose ourselves in a book for hours, or just sit and do absolutely nothing. Calvin of Calvin & Hobbes fame once summed it up perfectly: “There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”
The FOMO Trap: Why We Keep Chasing More
Fast forward to today, and nothingness has become a luxury, a guilty pleasure even. Thanks to the endless scroll of social media, we are bombarded with carefully curated glimpses of people’s seemingly perfect lives—weekend getaways to Tuscan villas, artisanal sourdough loaves rising to Instagram perfection, yoga retreats in Bali where everyone somehow looks serene and well-hydrated. And there we are, sitting on our couch, scrolling, feeling like we should be doing something, anything to keep up. Welcome to the dreaded FOMO—Fear of Missing Out, the anxiety that if we’re not actively participating in every conceivable experience, we’re somehow falling behind in the great race of life.
JOMO: The Radical Joy of Opting Out
But here’s a radical idea: what if missing out was actually the best thing we could do for ourselves? What if, instead of FOMO, we embraced JOMO—the Joy of Missing Out? Imagine sinking into the pure, unadulterated pleasure of not needing to keep up, of stepping off the frantic treadmill of comparison and into the slow, satisfying stretch of a life that is truly yours. JOMO, my friend, is the highest form of self-care.
How JOMO Transforms Your Everyday Life
JOMO is sipping tea in your pajamas while everyone else scrambles to find parking at a trendy new restaurant. It’s canceling plans and not making excuses because your couch and a good book are calling your name. It’s choosing quality over quantity, depth over breadth, peace over pressure. JOMO means trusting that your life—just as it is, in this moment—is enough.
Breaking Free from the FOMO Cycle
Of course, embracing JOMO doesn’t happen overnight. We’ve been conditioned to believe that busyness equals worth, that social validation is necessary, and that opting out means missing out. But what if missing out is actually where the magic happens? What if, in the stillness, we find everything we’ve been running toward?
One of the biggest hurdles to embracing JOMO is learning to sit with discomfort. At first, not checking your phone every two minutes might feel like breaking a deeply ingrained habit (because, well, it is). You might feel antsy, like you’re supposed to do something. But here’s the beautiful thing—once you push through that initial twitchiness, you start to settle into a different rhythm, one that is slower, richer, more attuned to what you actually want rather than what the world tells you to want.
Rediscovering the Simple Joys
Think about the last time you did something just for the sheer joy of it. Not to post about it, not because it was productive, not because it added to your highlight reel, but just because it felt good. Maybe it was a lazy afternoon spent napping, or wandering through a bookstore with no agenda, or watching the rain fall while sipping coffee. That feeling—that deep, soul-filling contentment—is the essence of JOMO.
Social Media: The FOMO Factory
Social media is a FOMO factory. It’s designed to keep us engaged, envious, and endlessly scrolling. The highlight reels we see aren’t real life; they are carefully edited moments meant to create a narrative of perfection. No one posts about the burnt toast, the existential dread at 2 a.m., or the way they sometimes stare into the fridge hoping the perfect snack will materialize. And yet, we compare our messy, complicated, beautiful real lives to these illusions and come up short every time.
How to Fully Embrace JOMO
So how do we step off the FOMO hamster wheel and into the blissful embrace of JOMO? First, we start by recognizing that missing out is an illusion. You are not missing out on your life when you choose what genuinely nourishes you. In fact, you are gaining something far more precious—presence.
JOMO is about setting boundaries. It’s saying no to things that drain you, even if everyone else is saying yes. It’s about reclaiming your time and energy and using them in ways that feel good to you. It’s about getting comfortable with quiet moments, embracing solitude, and realizing that boredom is not the enemy but an invitation to creativity and rest.
The Magic That Happens with JOMO
When you start leaning into JOMO, something magical happens. The pressure eases. The noise quiets. You begin to see the beauty in the small, simple things—a slow morning, an unhurried meal, the way the light filters through the leaves. Life stops feeling like a race and starts feeling like something deliciously, unapologetically yours.
Final Thoughts: Give Yourself Permission to Enjoy Nothing
So go ahead. Turn off the notifications. Cancel the plans. Put your phone down. Step into the radical, rebellious act of doing nothing. Because, as Calvin wisely pointed out, there’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want. And that nothing? That’s where the real joy lives.