Festive JOMO

 

FOMO fear of missing out!  Ahhh  the race to the sales, gathering of produce, attending parties and working to get it all done in time.    Fear of missing out has existed for a long time, though it was defined in the 2013 Oxford dictionary.  FOMO is defined as anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere .

Did Mary and Joseph encounter FOMO when racing to Bethlhem?  Was the stable a downgrade on the resort accomadation?  Did they have the latest trend and compete with the Jones?

 

 

Letting go of FOMO

What the Holy family did not encounter was our modern technology capacity to tap into others lives with the push of an app.  Stuart Luman suggests these measures to bring balance:

1. Relish feeling out of the loop. JOMO the joy of missing out being present to where you are and savouring this;
2. Seasonal holiday from social media checking out from clicking onto others adventures,
3. Employing software to avoid succumbing to habitual social media haunts.  Apps such as BreakFree or Moment stop FOMO like roundup,
4. Delete social media apps from mobile devices – this has slashed my phone bills,
5. DIGITAL  DETOX the intervention where you are out of range from social media and in contact with the person in front of you.

 

Joy of Missing Out

Joy the word we see, hear and sing at this time of year.  Joy of missing out is the antidote to FOMO as we let go of the need to know what others are doing and unplug.   JOMO is letting myself enjoy the here and now and being grateful for this.  Its not that I don’t care about others live.  Its the joy of being in the now, not rushing to see the next big thing.

Recently I challenged myself to turning the mobile to silent when meeting people.  I previously worked on call. The mobile and responding to it was equivalent to a umbilical cord connecting me to the external that I attended to 24 /7.  This while a necessity for my work stopped me from being 100% present to family and friends.  The week of a silent phone revealed to me the habit of hooking in.  I wish to continue the challenge of connecting uninterrupted by this tone that pulls my head space out of the context I am in.

Christina Cook a Canadian mother documented her month without internet to pen the book: The Joy of Missing Out Finding Balance in a Wired World.  The 3 gifts she found were presentness, intentionality and limited connections.

Here is the TEDX Talk she presented in Toronto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q3rhVna7yo

The Colours of Christmas

At this time of year there are those that remember a White Christmas cold with snow and hot food to warm the soul.  Australia has more of Red Christmas particularly if you live in the bush were the dirt is red and the sun makes you red.  My darkside Grinch Green Christmas is when I compare myself, don’t see what abundance I have and become jealous.

Tucked away from the raucous celebrations sit those in a Blue Christmas where loved ones lost are missed, circumstances are stressful and the colour of life is drained.  At our Christmas table there will be two settings where the remembered grace us with their invisible presence.  A smile, a hello is appreciated when you are in a Blue Christmas as this is when connection is craved but sometimes shunned.

 

 

Your Reason for your Season

Advertising on internet, television, radio and print bombard us at this time of year with promises and pressure to buy, buy, maintain the debt, look beautiful and be there.

Tuning out of the retail hype and coming home to what you value is like taking off the pressure valve sinking into your reality.

Find your reason for this season:

Is it a time to reboot?

Is it family time?

An opportunity to go bush and ride a horse?

Is it a celebration of the present or the past?

Is it Jesus Birthday or Hanukkah or Paneha Ganapali?

Thank you Gwelup Flower shop for this sign

www.gwelupflowershop.com.au

References

Stuart Luman found at www.niraandfar.com/2015/01/fomo.html