what's cool?
what's cool to me? what's cool to you? I've been wondering. I've been talking to myself in the car, in the drive back home. the radio doesn't play cool music, for all I know. spotting a person that look remotely coolish is something similar to catching the sight of a shooting star in the middle of the day. it stands out, everyone could be there to see it but they just didn't look up. or at it, I guess.
these are my very incomplete observations. we can grow from here, I'm sure:
coolness is something that you can practice, but not everyone masters it. you can begin to understand it, if you try, but it's not guaranteed to happen to you. the main element of it seems to be being humble. cool people probably think they're a little quirky, and are mostly annoyed with how people perceive them. most of them I'd dare say do not feel they should be considered cool at all, and they don't say this to appear humble, they actually are clueless about what people see in them. if you mentioned to them that you think they are cool you'd get too responses: (a) a blush and a "nah, I don't think so"; (b) a cackle and a "really?". you see these people are usually not that self-deprecating unless prompted. they make fun of themselves, sure, but not for people to pity them. it's a fine art.
tied to that seems to be the use of social media. the people I think are cool have two extremes of use of social media. on one side, are the people who don't use it at all, and don't understand the gist of it. then on the other side of the spectrum you have those that do use them, but have complete control over them and do not care about the image they want to portray. actually, they might be very liberal about the things they post, without regard of whether they look good, desirable, or interesting.
lower screen time, or intentional screen time, might lead to more time to think (I guess? it doesn't happen to me!) and maybe even time to reflect on the things you find amusing. people that have hobbies and know about stuff are insanely cool to me. people that have read not to look cultured, but because they are curious. they have questions that haven't been answered. and for that, they might also produce: they write, take pictures, paint.
those that have a gift for the crafts that involve the senses at a deeper level (e.g. cooking or painting) seem to me to have a better sense of individuality. and that's something good: I usually see that these are the people that are not uncomfortable with sticking out of a crowd. not out of pride, because they just don't notice they are. maybe they just think most people are like them: individuals.
who do I think is cool? well, the coolest person to me is Anthony Bourdain. there are others, of course. I think my ideas might be biased around how I think he was. what I also love about him, what I think made him cooler than everyone else, was that he seemed to be up to chat with anyone, without judgement. I think I could've sat down with him and have some wine and have a great time. me - I'm literally no one - I think I'd be up for that challenge. with other famous people, I don't know if I could. they don't seem as welcoming.
so now, what do you think is cool?