Manifest Coolness From Nerd to Shining Dweeb (Wouldn't it be Cool If...)

Today, let us discuss coolness.

Let me start by saying I have never been cool.
I have never thought of myself as cool or have any idea how to be cool.
The mere fact I use the word cool should highlight my credentials.

But, I have been studying cool people for years.
And I have come down to a couple of criteria for identifying cool people

• They always seem to be happy
• They always seem to do what they want
• They always seem to somehow succeed at those things

Those basic criteria are generally what I consider to be cool/coolness.

So how do we go about becoming cool?

Well, it is tricky. 

My new belief is we are all innately cool.

But, are we the coolest?

Are we as cool as we want to be?

My contention is an emphatic YES

WE ARE AS COOL AS WE WANT TO BE.

So what does that mean?

WE ARE IN CONTROL OF HOW COOL OUR LIVES CAN BE.

I usually distill this down to a simple adage that I repeat often:
"We get the life we craft."

SO what are we crafting?
I look around and I see bills piling up, a seasonal job, not enough time in the day, and too much Netflix binges.
That isn't terribly cool.
Not like the cool kids that I know/see who go skydiving or travel the world.
That makes me frustrated.
Why do they get to do it and not me?
What makes them so freaking cool?

And therein lies the truth of it.
They aren't cooler than me.
They aren't more special than me.
They are just doing it.

Looking at the list again:

• They always seem to be happy
• They always seem to do what they want
• They always seem to somehow succeed at those things

So why are they happy?
Well they do what they want.
They always seem to succeed (for expansion on why this may be so, check out How to Write a Better Life)

Now, I am not suggesting that these cool people aren't living lives filled with tragedy and suffering just like the rest of us
(My main contention is that they are the rest of us)
But the point is that when you are living a legend, when you are living not just a cool life, but the coolest life, you get to wake up every day.
You don't drag yourself to a 9 to 5, you run to it.
And why?
Because your life becomes a training montage!
You're excited and free to go and do whatever you want.

Why the word "COOL"?
Because it works for me.
It sings to me.
I have no idea why or how, but it does.
So I run with it.

When I wake up and I think, "Wouldn't it be cool if..." I take that as a big flipping sign and run with it.
So after years I am finally:

• Writing story (novels/shorts)
• Writing poetry
• Taking film photographs
• Taking dance classes
• Running workshops
• Travelling the world
• Teaching
• Cooking

All of the things that I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if" but never thought at which I would be good.

That stops now. 

I want to be the coolest me.

And that's pretty cool.