I slept very well thank you, though I had the most random dream that I dyed all my hair back to brunette and now I am wondering whether that was a sign to actually go there. Hmmm what do you, yes YOU, reckon??
Anyway today I will blog about ‘cool’ kids. It’s a daunting task but someone’s got to do it right? Recently I have been deliberating the stigma of ‘cool’ and wondering whether it’s restrictive rather than liberating.
Personally, I couldn’t care less if people thought I was cool or not. And who defines what cool is anyway? Certainly not the hipster in Hoxton, or Vice Magazine, or Merok Records for that matter…
I consider myself to be blessed with a cool group of friends and not cool because they are decked out in Topshop from head to toe or cool because they go to the maddest underground raves, but cool because they celebrate diversity and aren’t afraid to have a good time in whatever environment, and yes that could be a cheesy R’N’B club, as much as it could be a laid-back, quaint tea-party or a cutting-edge vernissage. Not only is the stigma of cool limiting and marginalising, but it also takes so much effort and energy to uphold that façade constantly. You know if you feel like dancing along to Jon Bon Jovi, just fucking do it, who decides that you can’t?
I find it saddening and demoralising that some people feel the need to conceal parts of their personality just to fit into some kind of scene. If you don’t belong to that scene just being yourself, then certainly that’s a sign that you shouldn’t bother in the first place! You are robbing yourself of many valuable experiences by living in this cage of “oh look at her Christopher Kane shoes” and what it comes down to is that in the end we all dribble and nobody gives a shit how hip you were at 18. What ultimately matters is whether you have developed an interesting personality that marries life experience with wit and intelligence, which, for me, is the pinnacle of cool.
Sometimes, I have wondered why people invest so much energy to be at the hippest events and hang out with the hippest hipsters and I certainly have been guilty of that superficial allure at some point as well, but I believe that by validating yourself through others, i.e. your scene, you are trying to hide a deep insecurity and feeling of inadequacy. By creating your own niche, that thoroughly defines who you are and that nobody can live up to, you are authenticating your ‘uniqueness’, but you are also inaugurating a self-created isolation. And doesn’t sound so much fun, does it? And isn’t the main drive to belong to a scene to counter-act that feeling of isolation? Chasing after an ultimate stereotype that is defined by others, may that be MTV or NME, is hollow and the coolest people are those open to new ideas and influences.
One last thing that I have to moan about is how hard it is to speak to ‘cool’ people because you constantly have to navigate through a minefield of what to say and what not to say. Can you mention the last look in, ermmmm, ‘Look’ or can you only talk about French Vogue? Can you mention the newest release on Universal Music or do you have to confine yourself talking exclusively about every single ever released on Young Turks? Yes ALL 6 of them.
To wrap up this little rant, I would like to share what I think is cool. Uhhhh danger.
It’s cool to be genuine.
It’s cool to dance to ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’.
It’s cool to geek out about films, literature and art.
It’s cool to read Teen Vogue even when you’re 25.
It’s cool to just hang with your friends without feeling the pressure that you have to go to the coolest party ever.
It’s cool to be yourself and to not be scared of it.
It's cool to know what Lacanian Theory is.
It’s cool to get excited about the ‘Can I has cheezeburger’ cat.
It’s cool to hula-hoop.
It’s cool not to take yourself too seriously.
It’s cool to express your views and to stand up for your beliefs.
Okay enough preaching for now. My next post will so deal with bodily fluids again! Yay!
Laters cool kids. Ha!
Linda
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