Ask Justin: From FOMO Through SOMO To JOMO

Culture Sex Relationships

"Hey good afternoon! I have a question that could be easily summarized as 'How to deal with "fomo" in non-monogamous/poly/RA relationships?'. (Fomo: fear of missing out.) And to give a bit more information: When I was in a polyamorous relationship for over a year I noticed I sometimes struggled with complicated feelings around missing out on (important) events/activities my then partner would attend with their other partner/s. They seemed to also have a hard time dealing with their partners feeling of 'fomo' and dividing activities. It made me think of how to handle things myself in the future if I would have multiple partners. I think there's a part that has to do with unpacking (het)normative scripts around dating but I haven't managed to detangle everything myself and would love to hear your take on it. I don't think it matters but I'm a queer non-binary person :) Whatever happens to this question, thanks for taking the time to read it." Fear of missing out, let’s explore that What is fear and what are we fearing? Are we fearing an emotion, such as sad (or even joy)? What would it mean to feel a sadness of missing out? What would that do? Sadness, loss, a reduced capacity to act. How can we organise our relationships so that it’s abundant? If we’re doing abundant relating, we’re doing win win relating. There is no missing out. ‘Making polyamory work for you’ Abundant relating examples and how they might be rhizomatic Perhaps we also should question the binary around ‘doing the thing’ = good, not doing the thing = bad. What is the thing we’re missing out on? We could all do with watching some more snooker I think. Do we have to experience everything our partner feels? Like Yoko and John? Duchamp’s door might be a way for us to find a way to joy? What’s the very first sign of a SOMO leading towards a place of JOMO. Or just, joy? https://megjohnandjustin.com/relationships/staying-with-feelings-in-relationships/ https://loveuncommon.com/2019/09/20/taking-your-emotional-temperature/