Cool People

There are a great many people in the world cooler than I.  Not a huge reveal, I know.  Yet somehow this fact surprises me from time to time.  As a writer, I do spend a great deal of time by myself and am therefore, by default, often the coolest person in the room.  Today I was reminded of the great coolness out there.

Yes, there is a long list of people I personally know who display great coolness in their art, poetry, dwellings, cars, and literary references.  However, here are two strangers who just struck me today.

First, I met a teacher for whom I substituted today.  I was no match for her J Crew-catalog-shoot presence.  She’s together; I’m not.  I have no idea how she teaches 1st grade in heels and perfectly pressed slacks.  I wear wrinkled Gap pants, a menswear flat stained by the denim I wear the rest of my life, and the same two sweaters every week.  This girls owns her presence and I think that’s cool.

Second, I was up-ed by the bagger girl at the grocery show.  Whatever her story is, her unmitigated confidence cleverly tattooed across her body told me that it was worth listening to.  She’s got guts; I don’t.  It took me three years to come up with a tattoo idea I thought I could handle the rest of my life.  I really liked it, but I didn’t get it for want of extra cash.  Then, surprise–the idea base was broken to bits this year and I wouldn’t want that heritage on my back right about now.  This girl owns her story and I think that’s cool.

In this, I see coolness as an ownership of self. I am who I am and I do what I do because it makes the most sense to me. Further, it somehow makes me more of a person, growing more interesting with each decision I make.

Me? I own my comfort. I am comfortable in my clothes that can stand to be messed with finger paint. I am comfortable with my silence, holding my story as my own for a time.

You just never know who you will run into out there in life’s little adventures.  I am reminded today to go boldly and go humbly.  I am not that cool, but I am cool enough.