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JOMO is the new FOMO

You’re at home, tapping through Instagram, when boom - it hits you. A feeling that you’re missing out on something better, cooler and infinitely more fun than your current situation. FOMO, the “fear of missing out”, is easily triggered by the social media accounts of not just friends, but celebs and influencers whose literal job is to make you believe that whatever they’re doing is more exciting than your current situation. We’re beginning to reflect on issues like FOMO as one of the negative effects of our hyper-connected world. Research psychologist Andrew Przybylski found that FOMO is a driving force behind social media use and that FOMO levels are highest in young people, and young men in particular. And hey, when former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya says he won’t let his own kids use social media because the “short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works”, you know that there’s probably a downside to all this posting and scrolling we’re doing, fun as social media can be.   We all want to experience life to the fullest, but constantly caving to FOMO can be really exhausting. One solution to the anxiety and dissatisfaction induced by staring at other people’s curated lives for too long is to embrace JOMO: the “joy of missing out”. Here are five ways you can cultivate some serious JOMO by slowing down and spending time in nature.

A person looking up and hands raised to the sky
Photo Information Pexels True JOMO

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