Learning to stay in and how to enjoy it

By Halle Brindley  – Contributor

How do I break up with the fear of missing out (FOMO)? I love being included, even if it’s just a conversation. I am constantly on TMZ mode; I always want to be “in the know.” However, this is impossible because – unbelievably – I am not TMZ, and I also have homework to do. Picture this, everyone is getting ready to go out for the night, except you have an assignment due at 10 a.m. the next morning, so you are torn. “I’ll just wake up early and do this in the morning,” is a myth passed down from generation to generation. If you go out without having done your assignment first, you might fall victim to lingering anxiety. If you do wake up early, I applaud you, and I sure hope you produce something of intelligence, because I know the $6 doubles at the Gait will not help you the next morning. Don’t freak out with what I say next, but what if you stayed in? 

You can be in good company with yourself. 

I am learning to spend intentional time with myself. I do not mean being on my phone alone in bed on Instagram watching Reneé Rapp reels – that is just an ingrained behavior in humanity now. I’m talking about making banana bread when I have the kitchen to myself, going to Café Bla-Bla for an espresso martini and then heading across the street to watch Mean Girls (2024) at the theater, catching up on laundry so I have clean sheets and no longer have mysterious crumbs in my bed anymore . . . all of that. 

You can also be in good company with another person without having to be around all of your Instagram mutuals. This applies to everyone, even the influencers reading this. 

The other night, I was in full après ski gear. The moment I was about to leave for the Gait, I decided against it because I wanted to stay back with my roommate and hangout. To clarify, this was not out of pity. I was just having such a good time being with her that I chose to stay back. Well, that and I also really wanted to watch an episode of our show. I did not make it out that night, but I did not feel like I missed anything either because I was not hung up on it, and I was doing my own thing. And that is the trick: do the opposite of the lyrics in Madonna’s song Hung Up. 

As a kid, I would whine about how there was nothing to do, but every time my mom would refute it by saying “There’s always something to do.” Isn’t the saying “Mother knows best?” She was right, there is always something to do. 

Use the energy you get from having FOMO for something worthwhile. Walk to Faro and read a book. Watch a movie from the Oscar nominations list. Make a cucumber salad. Workout to Ice Spice songs. Have a listening party for a new album or by an artist you do not know. Throw a dinner party. Call a friend from home. Write your favorite The Campus author a letter (I do not want to get doxed so no personal information will be released). 

Whatever you do, just no moping around. Changing this might just make you feel a little less like you are missing something and a little more like you “like this little life.”