I've recently finally gotten back into reading. I was on a trend for awhile where I would read every night before bed, or at least in the tub...but that kinda stopped.
I find it always has, I end up with readers burnout I think. I read a LOT all at once (many books on the go), and then walk away from everything at once. Kerry's husband was reading Let That Sh*t Go by Kate Petriw and Nina Purewal and I decided to read a few chapters. The first chapter I turned to was Do It For The JOMO. To understand what JOMO is, you first have to know what FOMO is. FOMO is the fear of missing out. That nagging feeling if someone does an activity/attends an event without you. You could have FOMO because you've missed out due to less controllable circumstances (work, life, etc), but you can also experience it if you've chosen to not attend. The authors highlights how social media makes FOMO exponentially worse for some people. There is a lot of great little nuggets of advice tucked in this 3 page chapter.
"All you can do is focus on what's in front of you and applaud yourself for making choices that align with your needs."
JOMO is finding the joy of missing out. Flipping FOMO and focusing on what you're experiencing. For example... it may have sucked to go to work and miss the event, but you're working towards a financial goal.
"... short-term sacrifices for the benefit of your passion pay off in the end."
We often talk about "finding the joy in the journey" and I like to think it applies here too. While working through my FOMO I like to also remind myself of the joy I've found in my day. I may have missed an event, but what did I gain? Sometimes that gift was 5 minutes of silence. Sometimes its a lighter work load for the rest of the week. Less housework to be done later. Also, did I really want to go to that event or do that thing? Sometime the answer is no. So did I really miss out? (The stories we tell ourselves... that might be the chapter of OUR book!) I ended up reading most of the book in the end, but that chapter is one that stuck close to me. What I really enjoyed about Let That Sh*t Go is that it's a taster book; the chapters are small and easy to digest. It opens up a lot of conversation that I was already having internally, but gentle reminders are always good too! I found more reading on JOMO all across the web. This one is a great piece. During some downtime, where I could be doing something else, I instead decided to have a moment for JOMO. I haven't had a time this week where I was able to just, sit. So I did that for a moment and then decided to clean (because, I can't just seem to *sit*... I need to get back to that too). So I took some time to clean and listened to We Just Like To Talk's review on the book Come As You Are. I don't want to spoil a lot about the book but it definitely piqued my interest. I'm always grateful for specifically Kara's in-depth reviews of books (I've been a big fan of her reviews since about grade 9...). This book delves into a taboo topic for many... sex. (Why is this still taboo?) It was so wonderful to hear two great friends chat about this book and the impacts of it on them personally. I have so many layers of thoughts and information to dissect, process, and converse about from listening to their review...but I want to read the book myself first.
Then I took a few moments to reflect, and then write this post. Hello!
If you haven't listen to We Just Like To Talk, you should take the time. They describe their podcast as "easy listening about hard subjects" and it really is just that.
Get out there and enjoy your journey!
- Cousin Laura
Comments