I was looking back at some old Myspace blogs from 2-3 years ago, and here was one I thought deserved a re-post here on Blogger. The original post was from September 27, 2007.
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I had a convo with my sons Conor (age 9) and Brett (age 7) a few weeks ago about what it means to be cool. They are getting to that age where the concept of social acceptance is starting to become known to them. Anyway, that conversation was brought back to mind today by an exchange I had with my friend Sarah, who was telling me how she'd seen some old high school acquaintances at her gig last night. She described these people to me as the "cool macho" types. Or at least that's how they were pegged in their H.S. daze, right?
So this made me think all over again: What does it really mean to be cool? In our youthful times, it is a pretty subjective thing, and depends a lot on the time and place you are at. Math Club kids are NOT cool in the eyes of the Freaks and Jocks of high school. Jocks are primarily not cool in the eyes of the Freaks. And so on and so forth....
As we grow into adulthood, the concept of "cool" changes quite a bit. Pressure to act in a certain way in order to be socially accepted is replaced by the rigors of making a living and chasing the American dream.
So at this point in life, what is cool? It is complex for sure, and we could fill many weekends with open forum discussions in backyards and around kitchen tables. But in my mind, I think you can boil it down to a few basic things:
1) You truly live by the Golden Rule; you treat all people with love and respect, and you DO NOT judge
2) You have a fairly open mind to new things and experiences; in other words, there is almost nothing that you consider above you or beneath you
3) You always act true to yourself, and don't behave in any way that is for the sake of others
So I say, anybody who acts in these ways is about as cool as you can get.
But all of this is, of course, just my own opinion. I would welcome comments from all of you who care to share your opinions on what it means to be cool.
Discuss......
2 comments:
I feel I should leave a comment on this post because the fact that there are none here already is rather uncool.
:-)
(I'm reading your back posts. I feel like a stalker. Thanks for your comment on mine.)
ananji
After originally posting this two years ago, I began a series of discussions with friends about it, asking them what they thought being cool meant to them.
The best answer that I heard back then was from my chiropractor, who said "I think showing genuine interest in other people, and listening to what they have to say, is very cool." To which I replied "I completely agree, Dr. Art. You are an especially cool person, and you just described yourself." :)
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