FOMO, JOMO & Rotting

Young people are funny. Their expressions are funny and so are their acronyms. By now, we're all familiar with FOMO - the fear of missing out. Thanks to social media, it's quite prevalent these days. Everybody knows what everyone else is doing, whether or not they're together. In fact, FOMO has, unfortunately, led to a seriously high rate of depression in young people. Being young has always been hard. But it seems harder now when we are all spectators to each other's lives. Now you know when there's a gathering to which you're not invited. It used to be respectfully private. Sadly, that's no longer the case, unless someone possesses a decent enough amount of self-awareness to keep their get-together off the 'Gram. (Instagram, for those of you not up on the lingo.) 😉

There's an antonym for FOMO of which I'm a really big fan: JOMO, the joy of missing out. Have you ever RSVP'd yes to an invitation or an event and started really dreading it as it approached? In Wisconsin, this happens fairly often because when it's cold and dark out, the idea of dressing up and going outside can be daunting. Therefore, JOMO, which happens when you suddenly can't attend or something was blissfully canceled, can be pretty great. 

There is a tendency, to participate far too often in JOMO. You can get pretty good at turning down invitations and eventually, you won't receive very many. Like everything in life, JOMO should be used in moderation. I sometimes have to make plans or accept invitations even when I don't really feel like it. I rarely regret it because live lived in person, not online, is always better, even if not always prettier. 

And now for our final term - Rotting. We used to call this laying around or being lazy, or being a couch potato. It all means doing nothing of any great value. Like JOMO, it should be used in moderation, but often involves bingeing a TV show or reading a great book in one sitting. In my opinion (IMO), if you're reading a book, it's never bad or to be considered rotting. To me, reading is always a worthwhile endeavor.  However, I do appreciate that the term "rotting" implies something kind of gross, which might help people avoid it. 

*Yep, I missed a day - so sue me. 🤷