Many are finding the quarantine a net gain for mental health.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s why…<\/p>\n
The FOMO has been eliminated.\u00a0There is no longer a \u201cfear of missing out\u201d.<\/strong>\u00a0For the first time in memory, that type of FEAR is gone.\u00a0There are no events, no places to be, nowhere to go…everyone is in the same boat. Our worlds are simple. We are where we are.\u00a0<\/p>\n Our collective lifestyles will probably never be this similar again. We can all relate on some level. We have more in common than we did before. There is an uptick in unity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Our rivals aren\u2019t getting ahead of us. Our heroes aren\u2019t above us.\u00a0Mick Jagger is at home just like you\u2019re at home.\u00a0The social totem pole has been deleted, and it seems quite good for collective morale.\u00a0<\/p>\n FOMO\u00a0drives people into depression.\u00a0<\/strong>There is absolutely nothing useful about FOMO.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n We have every option available to us at our fingertips; thus, the present is rarely good enough. It\u2019s too easy to look at your phone (AKA pocket God) for \u201cthe cooler place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Why is that guy taking a crappy grainy video of the entire Rolling Stones concert? He has working eyeballs that see in hi-definition. He\u2019s in the front row with amazing seats, yet watching Mick Jagger thru a 4-inch screen.<\/p>\n Why is he doing this? Not because he\u2019s going to watch the video later, but because he wants to show the world he was there.\u00a0<\/p>\n On a basic level, there\u2019s nothing inherently wrong with that. But when everyone on the planet is participating in the \u201chey look at me\u201d culture,\u00a0the\u00a0traps of comparison run our lives<\/strong>. That guy\u2019s friends and acquaintances are watching his Rolling Stones video and seeing it as a net loss for themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n That grainy video is injecting more unnecessary FOMO into the culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n Everyone has witnessed forms of \u201cRolling Stones Guy\u201d, and everyone has been \u201cRolling Stones Guy\u201d at some point.\u00a0The more time we spend online; the more we are absorbing FOMO and\/or injecting it into the culture.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n So, before posting something on social media, it seems important to ask one question…<\/p>\n Is this post useful to people?<\/em><\/p>\n The present moment shouldn\u2019t be the backup option. The present is a gift. Locking into the present is the feeling of true peace or leisure or therapy or some combination of these.\u00a0<\/p>\n What else can we do but be content with where we are? It\u2019s an initial struggle, and then all-of-a-sudden it\u2019s not. Feels good to chill. Surrender to nothingness.\u00a0Embrace the sweet pleasure of sitting in a chair and reading a book. No one is\u00a0doing anything better\u00a0right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n We are all going back on the hamster wheel soon; working our 40-60 hour work weeks at full hyper-speed and climbing the corporate ladder or social ladder or both, but for now, life is slow, and the FOMO is an afterthought. Feels good, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n Let\u2019s remember this time and reference it when we\u2019re feeling wobbly.\u00a0<\/p>\n FOMO can be kept in check. FOMO can even be defeated.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The present moment is therapy.<\/strong>\u00a0We gotta enjoy the lack of FOMO before we are withering in the traps of comparison once again.\u00a0<\/p>\n Enjoyed the topic? Have a relevant anecdote? Disagree with the author? Leave your two cents on this post in the comments below, and our favourite response will win a $50 Amazon gift card. The competition closes two weeks from the date of publication, and the winner will be announced in the next Simple Talk newsletter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many are finding the quarantine a net gain for mental health. Here\u2019s why… The FOMO has been eliminated.\u00a0There is no longer a \u201cfear of missing out\u201d.\u00a0For the first time in memory, that type of FEAR is gone.\u00a0There are no events, no places to be, nowhere to go…everyone is in the same boat. Our worlds are……<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":333963,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47125,53],"tags":[5134],"coauthors":[109361],"class_list":["post-87721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorials","category-featured","tag-sql-prompt"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/333963"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87721"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87769,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87721\/revisions\/87769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87721"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=87721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Commentary Competition<\/h4>\n