"FOMO" is a new term I learned. My Jiu-Jitsu buddy, Keith shared it with me last night over tofu based soft serve. FOMO stands for, the fear of missing out. When he told me what it was I identified with it immediately. It was a realization that was all too real. I couldn't help to think about my life, and how I've always had this case of FOMO.
My whole family would gather around to watch the ball drop with pints of ice-cream (not tofu based), back in the 90's. We would gather around to usher in the New Year. I was dead set on watching the ball drop, and being apart of this cultural ritual. I was always quick to go to sleep though. More often than not, I would pass out before the ball dropping. I would wake up on the 1st with a FOMO ice-cream induced hangover. I would feel a heavy dread of not being part of this thing. I would see the replay on the Today show, but it wasn't the same. Matt Lauer would say something vacuous about the New Year, and I'd brood. I had missed out, and it would plague me.
I spent several years in New York constantly feeling that I was missing out. There was everything to do, finite time, limited money, and not enough energy. I wanted to experience everything. I studied Mixed Martial Arts, animation, French (which I can't speak), and Hemingway. I experienced the Food and Beverage Industry in the Big Apple. I lived a lot of life. It wasn't any use though. I have that lingering FOMO.
I think about my grandfather, Abe. He was a large Polish man. He killed Nazis with his bare hands. After the war he left a displaced persons' camp, and came to Boston with his family. I don't think he had a case of the FOMO's. He missed out on plenty, but that did not stop him. No sir, it didn't.
I can't help, but think of Generation Dial Up. I think we have so much potential. There was a generation that lived before Christ, and after. Our generation lived before The World Wide Web, and after. My grandfather's generation lived before the Second World War, and after. FOMO wasn't a thing for them. Real pain, anguish, and misery was a thing for them. They pushed forward, and realized that existence has boundaries.
We can make the most out of the here and now! We can recognize FOMO, and realize it's bullshit. Everybody every where is always going to be missing out on something. We are physical beings locked in by space and time.
So, I say, "Fuck FOMO". The "missing out", is an important tool in shaping who we are. It's the Yin to the Yang of doing shit. It's the other side of the coin that makes us unique. I've never been to Spain, but I love Hemingway's book, "For Whom the Bell Tolls". It's one of my favorites. Maybe it wouldn't be had I been there. Things become more precious, because they are finite. Our human existence is enhanced in someways due to, FOMO.
So, maybe I jumped the gun a bit when I wrote, "Fuck FOMO". That's my reactionary side getting the best of me. Understanding FOMO truly, is to understand what truly makes us great. So FOMO, fo' sho'!