Interview Two

1. What do you think defines cool? 

Well, lets think of the opposite of cool to understand its definition. Literally, the opposite is warm or hot, right? Someone who deals with stressful situations in a worried, frantic, chaotic manner is handling it with a "hot" disposition. Someone who can handle the same situations with a calm, understanding, open-minded manner is literally doing so in a "cool" manner. These cool individuals exert this expression all the time which is really what separates the james dean from the ugly betty. With that said, its hard to avoid the physical attributes usually associated with "cool", but often confidence can over shadow societal physical perfection and the less attractive can still succeed (ie, Conan O'Brien, Michael Jackson, Rosie O'Donnell (okay maybe she's not cool but...some people think she is)). Its hard to separate what one individual thinks as cool from what society deems as cool. I think we all know what society pushes onto us as cool, and I think to be cool is to understand this and to separate yourself from it. This is where we can start with my personal definition of cool, originality. An individual who can sincerely do what makes them happy without caring what others think is the basis of cool. From there, I think cool individuals have passions and hobbies that keep their time filled whether it's science, art, math, or fashion. An even cooler individual takes these passions and tries to inspire others on their path to make this world a happier, healthier, and more positive world to live. 

2. Do you consider yourself cool?

Duh (see above)

3. What subset of a group do you categorize yourself in?

The cool ones, just kidding. Well, as an "adult" this is a tough question to answer. In high school, my close group of friends and I were friends with every group. We had jock, druggy, nerdy, stupidly gorgeous, racist, band, artsy, and just plain normal friends. We are all still very close and very different (some married with children, others surfing couches across the world) and I think that no matter what subset you're in, being cool is being open to everyone.

4. Are we all just followers or are there really individuals?

One of my favorite lessons learned was from a movie called "SLC Punk". The protagonist eventually realized that no matter how "punk" he is and no matter how many drugs he does, he is still conforming to be a non-conformist. In other words, even though he is rejecting popular culture and rejecting all of the other groups of lame "normal" people he is still considered "normal" with the the group of punks because he is just like them. 

I think that when you can discover your passion and follow them without caring how, what, who, or why you reach your goals you can become an individual. We can be inspired by others, but not always followers because we can use what they taught us to reach new levels of expression. Would there be a Michael Jackson without James Brown or an Einstein without Newton? Maybe not, but their individual influence is very different to different people at different times in different places. Maybe we're all one ever-changing pool of inspiration and that we shouldn't question if we're all followers or individuals but WHAT people, ideas, and trends we do follow.