I don’t know if there is a word out there that is as hard to define like “cool”.
The word has so many layers and there are many things that can make someone cool. I look at people who I think are cool and they don’t necessarily fit the cool person archetype.
We as young people link coolness to the amount of influence or followers a person has on social media, how they dress, their looks, financial standing and even how much they travel.
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The people I’ve come across that don’t fit in any of the above characteristics are probably the coolest people I know because they feel like the best versions of themselves at all times.
They live life according to their rules and manufacture their own trends, have their own muses and generally surf their own lane. Although there are many things that can make someone cool, popular things that people “cool” are how that person actively engages in art, culture and how they immerse themselves in a range of creative realms especially photography, music and fashion. What frustrates me is that those are the only people that popular culture view as cool and it leaves impressionable young people trying to mirror that.
Although I’m not the gatekeeper of coolness, there is a common denominator with all the cool people I know and it’s confidence. The confidence in believing in their ability, being confident in their own skin and not being defined by what other people think about them.
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Although having taste plays a huge role in being regarded as cool, I agree with that to a large extent, but – you can have all the taste in the world and still be pretentious and unlikable. During a Surface Magazine interview with Spencer Bailey, Kanye West said “More people need to know that they’re not f*****g cool.
In today’s world, having money has allowed people who are extremely uncool to think that they’re cool and carry it like that.
People who really are cool and people who really are artists and have ideas have to literally turn in their cool card to society just to make it past the age of 28.
It’s either die at 28 or turn in your cool pass.
I would love to be a part of creating a world that allows the artist to think and create at the highest form and be respected for their ability.
” In South Africa’s creative industry and similar circles, you do find a lot of artists who are regarded as cool due to their cultural contributions and trend setting but it all gets a bit monotonous when everyone is using the same template.
Are cool kids not tired of trying to hard to be mysterious, tweeting in small caps, consuming the same streetwear trends and maintaining the perfect or pseudo-artsy Instagram aesthetic?
We all can be cool though, we can all contribute positively to the spaces we’re in. You don’t need to run a dojo of coolness to understand that being cool is about being yourself and living your best life.
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