A Conversation On Cool

So while browsing the InterWebs, I stumbled upon this particular question posted on a blog I regularly read...  ‘What is cool and where has it gone?‘  I decided to share my thoughts.  For those of you over at ‘A Conversation On Cool‘, and for my friends here at Gent, here’s my response.

Cool is being yourself, comfortable in your own skin, naked if you have to.  Cool is knowing that you’re going against the grain and being unswayed by what people think, what the rules say you’re supposed to be or do, and how you measure up against any of the aforementioned.

Cool is taking chances that most other people won’t. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It often works more than it doesn’t. When it doesn’t, you make no apologies for it. Cool is saying ‘I tried’. Win or lose, your remain cool.

Cool can be offensive, unrefined, politically incorrect. Cool can also create a sense of ease, simply by being steady in the face of chaos, or quickening the pulse in dull instances.

Cool isn’t manufactured. Cool doesn’t ‘try’ to be anything. That’s what makes it cool. Cool is artistic, organic, innovative, and intangible. Cool just is.

Kanye West - Uncool

Cool is effortless. Cool is soulful, an inner peace and calm within that’s radiated outward. Cool isn’t afraid to say or do anything. The uncool is. Cool is magnetic.

Cool is the ongoing exploration and discovery of the unknown. It’s the ever-expanding of horizons and perspectives.

Cool sees, interprets and subscribes to things that the uncool does not and cannot.  The cool teaches, but knows that the uncool does not and cannot understand.

Cool readily identifies its lineage.  It carries the torch of its forebears.  Its forebears would want nothing less but for cool to evolve the way it’s supposed to.  It’s not to be imitated or duplicated; that’s manufacturing.

Cool is unpredictable.  Cool can anticipate the predictable and coolly navigates over and around it.

What has happened to cool? People ‘try’ to be cool. They try to figure out what people like and pattern themselves around it. That’s not cool. It’s a circus act. They’ll play themselves out because it becomes too exhausting to try to be cool.

Cool is full, deep, rich, original… timeless.  How much of that do you see today?  How many people even know what any of that really is?

That’s what happened to cool.

I could have gone on and on with my response.  Actually, I wish I did…