Romo: relief of missing out

Oct 4

The moment I came across the phrase relief of missing out on Instagram, I stopped. ROMO. Not FOMO. Relief. I cannot relate to something more.

I’ve never really had FOMO. Maybe because I learned early on that my happiness cannot depend on someone else’s definition of a “good time.” I realized that I have the power to create my own experiences. Why should I rely on an external situation or worse, external people to dictate whether I feel fulfilled? That’s a hard truth to swallow, but once you do, everything changes.

Because FOMO is exactly that: it’s external. It’s looking at other people and believing their moments are better than yours. But the more you build your happiness on what others are doing, the more you crush yourself.

ROMO, on the other hand, feels like freedom. It’s the quiet joy of saying no. It’s the peace of knowing you’d rather create your own moments than chase after someone else’s. And the funny thing? Most of the time, those events we glamorize and hype up aren’t even that great. You show up, feel out of place, and spend half the night wishing you were home. We romanticize what we think we’re missing, but rarely does the reality live up.

There’s beauty in missing out. There’s beauty in not needing to be everywhere, not needing to have everything, not needing to prove anything. The experiences I create for myself even if it’s something as simple as reading, painting, or sitting with my own thoughts are mine. They are unique to me. And no one can take that away.

So maybe the relief of missing out isn’t just a phrase. Maybe it’s a mindset. One that tells you your life doesn’t need to mirror anyone else’s. That the best moments are often the ones you never post, never share, and never compare.

ROMO is freedom. ROMO is peace. And honestly? I’ll take that over FOMO every single time.

Best Wishes

Cosmos Creatives