Clay Aiken said recently that he wasn’t “cool” like Justin Timberlake and that he’ll never be able to get anyone’s “sexy back.” But is he right? Should mass appeal dictate what something or someone is? Is cool what you are or what you bring to the table? Tough questions that wouldn’t have seemed so tough right…until you had to think about it…hmm. Well, while you’re still trying to find answers to those, I’m ready to put a spin on “cool.”
The definitive quality of cool whether you’re talking street language or dictionary language can not be exclusive of the fact that it is “earned” usually through attitude or composure, but is inclusive of appearance. And this brings me to my definition. Cool is the ability to bring calmness to a chaotic table, the mindset neutralization of an unfavorable situation. From this definition, you must then be able to see that “cool” is not just what you are, it’s what you bring to the table. It is also clear that there isn’t a direct or soft approach to true “coolness.”
So Clay Aiken, who had endured being talked about and laughed about because of the presumed nature of his sexuality for a long time, finally had the courage to come out saying somewhat that ‘this is what I am,’ after having a baby. He throws it all to the wind and gains himself in the midst of life’s complexities. And while being bitingly honest, humbles the nature of his “coolness.” Now, a question to your discretion—who is cooler, Justin Timberlake or Clay Aiken? I know it is still a difficult choice. But why? A question for your thoughts—is “normal” cool?
To my spin on cool—there is the peripheral coolness and I term this “just cool.” If you were born beautiful so things mostly appear smooth and unruffled, you’re just cool. If you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth with which to easily deal, you’re just cool. A different approach takes me to “hotness.” If you’re Paris Hilton “hot.” You’re just “hot,” after all you did nothing or little to get your hotness. And this is where some people may think it could get tricky, but no, it won’t.
Before I explain I must get to SFC (So Freaking Cool![coined]) which holds the depth of coolness. If there is some quality (able to bring calmness to a chaotic table, able to withstand unfavorable state of affairs with grace) about you that is quite appealing enough to overshadow the peripheral essence of “coolness,” you are SFC.
So, for instance, geeks can work their way to “hotness,” if you think about the fact that they try to make the world better everyday while those just hot girls pay them no attention. I have always found intelligence, “hot,” so yeah, I say geeks are SFH. And now you see that they are mostly not-hot in the Paris Hilton sense, which you can not deny is peripheral. Geeks can also get their “cool” on by saying something like “I am a geek, I try to make the world better everyday, I am so SFC.”
And so I pack the peripheral notion of cool and give it out fully as a gift to the world of pop culture.
Meanwhile, find your way to your cool as there is no direct route. For instance, “I am this because of that and so I am SFC.” But your ‘this’ must not be a peripheral quality. Whatever it is that got you to your coolness you embrace it fully and pretty soon you might not just get your “sexy back,” you might get someone else’s “sexy back,” as well.
Thank you for ChillingWithDew—where silly borne out of the seriousness of life is so SFC.
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