The Cure for FOMO

according to CNN.

All too often do I read and hear anecdotal stories about tight-knit villages getting unturned by hungry oil corporations— unfortunately, the Willow Project is no exception to this plaguing narrative. Alaska’s 228 federally recognized tribes (or 180 thousand indigenous residents), especially the tribes located on the North Slope, including the Iñupiat and Nuiqsut groups, will soon be forced into being the underdogs for ConocoPhillips’ corporate profit.

ConocoPhillips and the Biden Administration has no consideration to prevent pollution of the lands and waters that these tribes depend on, and are instead imprudently offering tribes money as compensation for destroying their homeland.

“[The money from ConocoPhillips] are payoffs for the loss of our health and culture,” the Nuiqsut leaders wrote during a meeting with the mayor of Utqiaġvik. “No dollar can replace what we risk…It is a matter of our survival.”

While Biden has signed climate pledges during his presidency, such as the Global Methane Pledge and Inflation Reduction Act, they don’t excuse the regressive effects the Willow Project will have on Alaska ecology. Biden’s shown Americans that climate protection fades when overly inconvenient.

Now that’s disappointing.

Climate and ecology protection is not a second-tier issue. It’s time our presidents’ agendas reflected that.

Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is the only way to banish the fear of missing out once and for all

I struggle constantly with social FOMO, and I always have. Maybe it’s a symptom of being a younger sibling, that I can’t help but feel like often I don’t get invited to things because I’m not old enough, cool enough, or fun and interesting enough. I know this is typical of plenty of people my age, but sometimes the acute sadness that comes with being alone while other people are hanging out is debilitating, and can prevent me from enjoying other activities—making it a lose-lose situation.

FOMO, the fear of missing out, specifically on social experiences, is often exacerbated by social media. Social media acts as a direct window into our friends, acquaintances, and strangers' lives, and it’s easy to feel acutely isolated and bored.

It wasn’t until this school year that I decided to give up on feeling left out and wallowing at home, and just go— go out and do things Only by forcing myself into social situations have I found freedom in enjoying more mundane activities (cooking, reading, hanging out with my family, watching movies at home) instead of feeling the need to take the opportunity to be social every moment I can.

Finding out what and who you like requires experimentation and making mistakes, or having to live with decisions you wouldn’t make again. But that’s why you do new things, to figure out what you don’t want to do again.

The enemy of fun is doing things you think you want to do or enjoy but actually aren’t interested in in reality, outside of your imagination and potential romanticization.