DMB Digest: The Art of the Now
How to Make Today Better
I should start off by clarifying, any statement that starts with “There are two kinds of people” is factually incorrect. Having said that…
There are two kinds of people: those who fuss over things like FOMO vs. JOMO (fear of missing out vs. joy of missing out) and those who take advantage of all the idiots fussing over FOMO vs. JOMO.
As a representative member of the second category (let’s call them the condescenders), allow me to elaborate. For people such as myself, the concept of FOMO is ridiculous. For starters, wherever I go the fun follows. If I’m not somewhere, not doing something, why would I want to be there? Clearly, without my presence, nothing worth missing could possibly be happening. What I’m doing right now is the coolest thing anyone could possibly dream of doing, because I’m doing it, right now!
You can see how this sort of reality banishes the very possibility of FOMO. Conceptually, it’s hard for me to wrap my brain around. But in a freak twist that proves God has a sense of humor, my secondary trait is empathy. So when I consciously deploy my empathetic abilities to mask my egocentric ones, I’m able to put myself in the place of someone less conceited and envision the suffocating construct of FOMO. (And wowzers, does it ever suck.)
For all of you who live in the FOMO/JOMO category, I humbly submit to you, both the FO of the MO and the JO of the MO are equally stupid. Before you get too worked up over the matter, I’ll admit life as a condescender (predating on all the suckers) is even worse. And this category has been quietly expanding throughout our society for decades. Its size is underestimated, because instead of blathering on about all their neuroses, condescenders look for blathering suckers to bilk, while leaving a wake of human husks behind them. (Take it from someone who was netting $5.00 a day from selling Atomic Fire Balls on the bus when he was twelve years old.)
Ironically, most of the condescenders eventually fall victim to their own wiles due to a fear of missing out on being recognized for their superiority. Inevitably, they brag of their exploits among all the idiots in a classic “stop hitting yourself” manner until an uprising foments among the FOJOMOers.
The nerdy world of Pokémon and TCG (trading card games) is witnessing this cycle play itself out once again. In case you missed it, I commented a while back on the nature of the TCG marketplace and economy. This week, after viral “stop hitting yourself” posts revealed certain streamers and third party sellers (digital scalpers) had mysteriously amassed a surprising majority of Pokémon’s recent production, Pokémon HQ announced it would print more product “as quickly as possible and at maximum capacity” in an attempt to remove the value proposition for scalping and try to assuage all the pissed off Pokémon enthusiasts.
On the one side, we have all the Pokémon FOMOers rending their garments and crying out to the gods of Poké for mercy. Some pre-orders have sold for 400% MSRP over the last several weeks. On the other side, we have all the condescenders admiring the chaos they’ve sown, tenting their fingers, and muttering, “Excellent.”
The solution to this self-perpetuating cycle is perspective. FOMO and JOMO both BLOWMO. The only answer is HISTOROMO. Understand the history of and cyclical nature of markets. You don’t have to fear missing out or blissfully endeavor to remain ignorant. You also don’t have to take advantage of people to teach them a lesson or to prove that you can, and then vainly attempt to outrun your comeuppance. These things always play themselves out in the end. A wise man once said, “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Now the DMB translation: “Life if full of trouble. Don’t add to it. Instead, each day, make today better.”
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