Geese, Strunk and My Fear of Missing Out

According to my sources, the phrase “Joy of Missing Out” was coined by a tech entrepreneur in 2012, while the familiar “Fear of Missing Out” predated it by a good eight years. I’ll let you decide what this says about human nature and will note that I am slowly warming up to the JOMO camp. It is a wonderful idea but requires training and time.

I have spent most of my life stuck in the FOMO space. For me, it has never been about the fear of missing out on money or keeping up with Influencers or flashing the latest styles. It is the fear of missing out on the natural world, knowing my place in it, and reconciling an insatiable appetite for tasting what’s over the next ridge. I suppose this entered my psyche during the early childhood years, which were spent in a 6-million-acre wilderness with plenty of ridges to peek over and endless woods to explore. After all these years, it remains. Whether it is hiking in the Pharoah Lake Wilderness, bird hunting in northern Minnesota or ocean fishing at the mouth of Kennebec, I would do it all if I could.

A life well-lived is subjective and personal. Special places and experiences touch us in unique ways. We each have our own reconciliation of a good life, and we all bring a rich diversity of perspectives that inform priorities and preferences. One of my favorite experiences occurs each year in late September, on warm afternoons, when Canada geese are on the wind. I can hear them long before seeing them in the sky, arcing south out of Ontario, like their ancestors have for millennia. V is for Vicarious.

Here is a short piece I wrote last year, while reflecting upon these thoughts:

Forty-eight Canada geese flew over the house

On a warm September afternoon

Was it the same gaggle that flared over my grandparents’ place in ‘86?

We heard them but did not understand what they were saying

Strunk says show, not tell

But geese don’t follow his rules or anyone else’s

No worries here if they s*#t on an English Professor’s golf course

Geese tell, then show

If you can squint into the sun long enough to listen

Declaring from 3,000 feet above,

FOMO, FOMO, FOMO

I have a strong case of the fear of missing out

Not on the surface but in the sky

“In the sky, lord, in the sky” sings the Carter Family. Learning how to embrace JOMO, finding peace, being grateful for what is meant for us and assuaging our fears is a work in progress. Knowing the natural world around us helps us to better know our place in it. Let’s continue to head out the door and into the wild as much as possible. I am grateful to be with you on this crazy journey.