Don't Be Cool

This past week, I was playing with the idea of "Don’t be cool.
Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort." from Bruce Mau's "Incomplete Manifesto for Growth."

At first I didn't have much to say about this one. I interpreted it to mean be myself. Okay, seems easy enough but what does that really mean? Being cool is like being politically correct. I don't know if the Fonz would agree with me. I censor myself for the benefit of others due to fear or as a self defense mechanism. But what exactly am I protecting myself from by not being myself? Criticism, judgement, ridicule, praise, honor, recognition. These are all actions or attitudes others bestow upon me. These are energetic emotions, positive and negative coming my way originating from others.

Here's the tricky part. If I bestow these actions myself, for myself, on myself, I am the origin of the energy for my benefit. I take out the middle man. But being cool will keep me from doing this. Why? In some circles, it isn't cool to do your own thing. But, the energy I generate from doing my own thing is the very energy I need and use to propel me forward, to take risks, to create. Being the uncool self I am gives me strength to be more uncool. The more uncool, the more unique I am. The more unique I am, the more energetic and the original my creations, artistic or otherwise, become.

The funny part is that down deep, everyone is basically the same, uncool. Any yet admitting it and showing our uncool side is not as common as it could be. There are those we all know that are so uncool, they are actually cool. We admire them for their independence and individuality. I suppose my final assessment is I want to recognize when I am doing or saying something because that is truly was I want, feel or think versus doing something to attain a reaction from another.

This week I will examine "Ask stupid questions. Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant."