Things Only A Homebody Will Truly Understand

It's Friday night. It's almost quitting time. And while folks around you are busy making plans for the evening/the weekend/their next vacation (if that's coming up), all you want to do is head home, change into a pair of comfy clothes, curl up on your couch or get into bed and do what you do best: stay home doing whatever it is that makes you happy. And if a friend calls to cancel on you at the last minute for whatever reason from a double booking to bad weather, that cancellation is the perfect reason to head home and throw a party for one, please. 

There is no such thing as FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) in the vocabulary of a homebody, but there is JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) and you have it in spades. Instead of spending time lining up outside a cold or rainy, hot or muggy night in sky-high stilettos to get into a crowded bar, you'd rather hear about how great the party the next day from friends who were there, or catch the action on social media... because really, nothing beats the joy of catching up on some "me time," reading, binge-watching television, or catching up on sleep on your couch or in your bed.

Homebodies can be labeled boring, and people that know them might consider them to be anti-social. But the truth is, there are a bunch of things homebodies would rather do than spend the evening out, because they prefer to spend the time alone doing things like preparing a meal for themselves, meditating, and reading. (Fun fact: The Wall Street Journal says 30 minutes of slow, uninterrupted reading can cut stress. Homebodies, rejoice!). 

They also believe there are better things to do than hang out with people — like skipping a night out to stay home and watch a movie, play a video game, or listen to music. But don't think homebodies are people-averse — they just prefer to keep social interaction on their terms, like enjoying one-on-one time with a good friend instead of a night out with a bunch of folks, because quality over quantity (via Lifehack).

Homebodies don't think they are losing out when they decide to make their excuses and head home. Personality Growth says many of the 16 personality types identified through the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) have the tendency to be homebodies, but some will take to it more than others. INFJs and INTJs, for example, are most likely to be homebodies because they truly take pleasure in their own company and they are most comfortable in their own personal space. INFPs are more taken with the idea of staying home than they are of going out, while INTJs are overwhelmed if they are made to interact with other people. 

During an interview with Vox about his book The Joy of Missing Out, Danish philosopher Svend Brinkmann said, "So we have this whole mentality of always doing more that is built into our consumerist society, which, carried to an extreme, is really tragic because it's not the recipe for a good life for most of us."

We don't know about you, but that sounds like a compelling argument for a homebody to skip the party and stay in tonight.