I Have A #FOMO

If you have been around social media for any length of time, you may have come across the hashtag, or term, FOMO. FOMO is defined by the Urban Dictionary as the "fear of missing out." This seems to apply more to the fear of missing a social event, and I am well above the partying age.

What does this have to do with genealogy? I subscribe to (so) many feeds that supply me with a genealogy and records fix: Twitter, Facebook, blogs, email, and the internet in general. The internet, as you all well know, is almost exploding with more databases, more researchers, more groups and societies and museums, more experts, more amateurs, more of everything everyday. I think it applies to every field, not just genealogy. But what will happen if I don't read about the newest "it" thing? What will I miss??

I am self-diagnosing myself with FOMO. My name is Sally and I am addicted to social media. You can even take a quiz. Here are my results:

I have to admit to myself that I just cannot keep up this pace! I crave knowledge and therefore will always have a FOMO.

My own life consists of a near-full time job that I enjoy, and a home and family with two busy kids and their running exploits. I even signed up for two online college courses. I am possibly probably deranged. But I can't help it. You know the saying that young children's brains are like sponges and they keep absorbing information? That's me, except a 40-something version.

Back to genealogy. I need to really harness my abilities and focus. We recently took a personality management inventory at work, and not surprisingly, I am "analytical" and a "coordinator." These are the traits that enabled my genealogy drive in the first place, so many moons ago. I am really good at honing in from the big picture to find the important data. The genealogy hunches? Mine are always spot-on. This is what I need to get back to and stop worrying about what I may or may not be missing. I can always search later...right?

I will be around. I may not post as frequently, but I will post. The blog will always be the cousin bait. The website will always house the family tree. I will always be on social media. My FOMO won't disappear that fast!

Some ideas:

• update website more regularly
• be active, rather then passive when searching for cousins
• revisit message boards and re-post
• research..again!

Wish me luck!

Public domain image credit

© 2013 Sally Knudsen

Back to School

School has begun and that has brought lots of changes in my household. Fall is in the air. Actually that part is not true, as we are pushing 100 degrees in Chicagoland this week. That is my excuse to explain not blogging much lately - too busy and too hot!

circa I'm not telling :)

Yep, that's me and my old neighborhood gang, on the first day of school. It was my first day of kindergarten! I'm on the left in the blue dress, rocking the pigtails and saddle shoes.

Now I have my own children that both started new schools this year. My youngest is a freshman in high school. Our grade and middle school district feeds into a larger high school district, so my son is not only getting used to classes, but to meeting lots of new kids. He is also on the cross country team, so now has some long days!

My oldest son started...college. I can hardly believe it. He earned scholarships to a private area university and is staying on campus. Part of his scholarship is running on the cross country team. He moved into his room with a high school teammate back in mid-August to start training camp. He intends on earning a History degree with a teaching certification. At least that's the current plan! And this weekend, the team has it's first out-of-state meet in Michigan. We have always attended every possible cross country meet the boys have run, but I think Michigan will be too far :)  

I have also decided to go back to school, in a manner of speaking. I have enrolled in two Coursera courses that start soon. Coursera is a consortium of universities from around the world that offer college courses free to anyone in the world that wants to sign up. I am taking "History of the World since 1300" from Princeton University, and "Understanding Media by Understanding Google" from Northwestern University. I am really excited about this new challenge. I always said to myself that if college were free, I would keep going. Now it is!

I will definitely be blogging, but perhaps not on a regular schedule through the fall. I know those old ancestors (and hopefully my fellow bloggers) will still be waiting for me!

© 2013 Sally Knudsen