Shhhh! I Can’t Hear My Subtitles

A Blog about Unplugging by Julia Sifers

Okay, so if you know me, you know I have severe FOMO.

When I first learned about this term, an acronym that stands for: Fear Of Missing Out, I felt seen.

I literally will do things with friends and family because the idea of maybe missing out on a great joke, or amazing food, or incredible moment will torment me for days! (DAYS) It’s not that I don’t think the world can get along well enough without me, but what if I am not there for it. Time is precious, those who I consider “my people” are precious and I want to be there for every single precious moment that may or may not arrive! (My FOMO is flaring just by talking about it!)

Even though it’s a real struggle, I’m learning that it’s okay if I miss some things. In fact, missing things creates a beautiful perspective of the purpose of stories: they are for when you DO miss something, so you DON’T feel left out! (Right?! This connection endears stories to me even more!)

So way back when there was no internet, barely reliable transportation let alone a reliable mail system, what did you do to stay connected with those precious people? The only real option was to stay close by and interact with them as often as possible. These days, you can live in different parts of the world, and still “see” people you love, thanks to technology! I am very grateful for the internet and it’s connecting abilities.

The internet handed us Email, and Instant Messaging. When these were only available on dial up, we were forced to physically go to the source of the internet… but these days, the internet comes along with us. We have texting and facetime and whatever social media app we like to use to chat and connect with all the people! It’s a FOMOer’s dream come true!

I’ll never miss out!

But it seems we’re discovering that this isn’t just a gift.

There’s more to it.

It’s a bit more complicated, and that’s not bad. But because we as humans don’t always have the self-control needed to handle this everywhere-all-people-connection we might need to reassess it’s purpose now and again. It can be overwhelming! It’s hard to not go to extremes. Either deleting all the apps in frustration OR spending way too much time and cultivating a whole world and identity.

 This isn’t a blog about what to do. Or what is correct or incorrect behavior. This blog is about unplugging.

 Unplugging is exactly what it sounds like. It’s not simply “turning it off” or “putting it down.” It’s doing that but then taking one step further: pulling the wire from the electricity, aka removing it from power. I think that’s the bottom line when it comes to the internet, missing out, and really anything in your life that is creeping into the unhealthy heights of becoming more important that it needs to be.

We need to remove the power from it.  

The power socials hold on young people has been proven to be associated with anxiety and depression. The power that FOMO can hold over us can force us to go too far, say too many yeses and eventually hit a burnout. The power we give these connections is what turns a really great tool into something that can devour our days with ease.

 I think the first step is to take a second (okay more than a second) to think about what we’re giving power to.

And then ask ourselves why we are doing that.

If we aren’t good with the answers that we come up with or if they don’t reflect who we want to be then there are lots of little ways to unplug or at least turn the volume down. Like Switchfoot’s song Adding to the Noise says:

“If we’re adding to the noise, turn off this song.”

Because Jesus is who we should be plugging into first and foremost. He’s got it all. We don’t need wifi or 5G or subtitles to connect and be with him. So that’s where we start: Jesus. And then it’s important to remember He commands us to go out and love one another. Because our God is a Relational God he wants us to stay in community. This includes our actual neighbors, but can also be those we stay connected to with the amazing tools of technology!

So let’s find our communities to love on, give to, serve, mend, and grow with.

And hack out all that other noise, so our FOMO settles down and we can find peace.