Fear Not, You Won't Miss It

‘What is this life if, full of care,We have no time to stand and stare.

- Nisha Jamwval

No time to stand beneath the boughs; And stare as long as sheep or cows… A poor life this is if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.’ 

There’s this FOMO thing being bandied about which you’ve probably heard of?

The new age epidemic ‘fear of missing out’ in an aspirational, demanding age where one-upmanship and ‘getting ahead’ is a priority above all else. That pretty little socialite feels life itself is about to crumble with the fear that she may not be invited to the party that everyone has been invited to. Where my American flat mate Amy from my days in LA would feel severe anxiety that she was left on the shelf and a spinster candidate if she did not have a date come Saturday night. There’s a hype and anxiety quotient around Valentine’s day, New Year’s eve et al. Enjoyment is not the concern! Don’t you understand? It’s about FOMO!

Times were when I enjoyed precious Wordsworthian nature trails and Davies’s ‘stand and stare’ moments that people like me grew up with?! Enjoying animal safaris, lakes, ‘hobbies’ and friends, time with my parents watching movies on the carpet when Pizzas were newish in India, zoos and painting exhibitions seem to be a thing of the past. It’s all replaced by the ‘must-be-seen’ ‘must-be-known’ exhibitionist-, self-promoting Instagram, Facebook, Periscope, Snapchat -Thick myopic glasses!