The Fun Of Missing Out

Article 018.

I slept late last night. Shunned the sleeping pill and regretted it a bit. I was worried that I wouldn’t get to shut my mind but eventually, a Meet Joe Black movie later, I made it to dreamland. I woke up the next day early, typical, but fought the urge to do social media. I thought, “Let’s just not waste the cool snuggly morning on making Zuckerberg another cent richer, shall we?” Snoozed for a few more hours, happily, and was awakened by Howard’s call. We did our usual early banter and lately we’ve been having some laughter over our misfortunes in life. Really not a laughing matter but we always find a way to make it a little less depressing, just for our own amusement. After a few laughs, we hung up. I had to get out of bed as the morning is about to end and my productivity level, or lack thereof, needs to jumpstart. Banana, coffee and I was on my way to Chuze Fitness. I hit the treadmill and the one thing I love about the time I spend on that machine is that I have a consistent moment with my thoughts and my perspiration. A mental and physical integration with separate agendas. My legs were getting the burn and my mind, well, my mind was back to earlier that day when I woke up.

The social media impetus of picking up the mobile phone and scrolling to tons of feeds. How was I able to break the impulse this morning? I checked on the time and usually I would unplug my phone and start my binging. However today was different. After seeing that it was just 430, I kept my phone in place, still charging on the stand. I immediately turned the other side of the bed and gave in to my tranquil state. I was rewarded with a few more hours of sleep and I honestly never felt better. Why is this not the norm? Seems like a question I should’ve been asking for years now. To think I’m just browsing in generality and really spends very minimal time on social media unless I find a good smoothie recipe, see some seasonal fashion tips or someone’s just feeling chatty in which I would most likely indulge. Otherwise I would spend most of my time on the phone solving Insane Sudoku puzzles, which by the way, not so insane anymore (Developers, I need the next level up from Expert please). I’m finding myself less and less gravitated to my phone. The last two trips to work I was just listening to music, barely looked at it and I was just spectating on my surroundings. My interest in social media is rapidly declining. The wanderer in busy Fifth Street seems ready to just walk through a mid-suburban town where the crowd is thinner and the environment is way toned down. Sounds peaceful.

I was reminded how Howard is so inactive in social media. No IG, his FB is pretty much dead and Messenger is the only platform he’s active on and that’s only if he does video calls with his kids and our high school buddies. I asked him how he manages and he said it was out of necessity at first (let’s not get into that) but eventually you’ll get used to it. He’s kinda off the grid but not totally. I told him imma do the same and he said I can’t do it and if I did, I won’t last long. Well, challenge accepted. Even before that discussion I’ve been contemplating about it already— shutting down IG and FB. I mean what is the point of staying? I think my social curiosity has plateaued. I feel like I am connected to almost every person I should be already, even realizing some people that I shouldn’t have connected in the first place. I’m headed that path anyway so it seems inevitable. But I’m keeping Messenger on since that’s the only channel I have for my folks, Sister and my high school buddies. So I’m not entirely out of the game. Plus this blog is still alive, ain’t it?

I have existing IG messages that I hope I can continue to receive and send either thru text or Messenger. If not, I will lose a few acquaintances which is the downside of it. I will miss the interesting discoveries I sometimes see in my IG and FB feeds, like quotes that hit hard, recovery exercises and childish puns I just can’t help but laugh at. I’ll be fine though. I might sign off for a few months and come back, or maybe not at all. Only time can tell. But if you ask me right now, I’m almost ready to let go. I’m excited by just the thought of it really. No longer feeling any fear of missing out. But rather feeling the fun to miss out. I know that the right acronym is JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) but not fond of the word “joy” really so I’ll stay with fun instead (wink).

I’m not worried that people won’t be able to reach me. Those who want to would know how to and the lesser they are, the better. I’ll value them even more. I think those are what you call true friends, right? And just so everyone knows, this would not deter me from sending positivity towards your way. Imma still Happy Friday the hell out of y’all. You’re not getting away that easy, plus, it puts a smile in my face when I put one in yours. So there.

I’m definitely plugging out before the year ends. Definitely.

Can you feel the vibe?