HW 37: Cool Paper Done Draft

Being born with a cultural map is a given. Following it is not. When we are thrust with images of cool, there's that temptation to adorn ourselves with that image but more than likely, we find ourselves repeating a cycle of actions that only brings us temporary satisfaction. Self importance is like our energy drink, giving us motivation and a feeling of meaning that keeps us content with the life we're leading. We thrive off compliments and high social titles. But what happens when we can't keep up with cool? We stick a label and sharpie "empty" on it. That's the excuse we give ourselves to justify our chase for cool. Many blame the media for corrupting our minds, blindfolding us with images of cool, and keeping us from aiming for a larger sense of purpose. But it is ultimately our own selves we have to overcome. We are puppets of our desires and of the "hole" in our hearts. It is our own individual choice to decide whether there really is a hole and whether aggrandizing ourselves is self fulfilling or not.

Often we hear about people leaving each other and taking parts of each other with them. We hear about people trying to find that missing piece to fill out that hole in their heart. When we are feeling lonely, we are describing a state of lacking something. Are we really lacking anything? Or do we just convince ourselves that we'll feel better if we had this or that? When we feel like we are lacking something, we purposely go out and find something to fill the "void", whether it is a person to fill our hearts or a hobby to fill our schedule. We’ll settle for anything that will make us feel productive and let us believe what we're doing is meaningful. Otherwise we'll just feel like another ant on earth, neglected and insignificant.

Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher believed that the emptiness felt by our generation was a result of spiritual emptiness. People have become lazy thinkers where everything they try to figure out is more about scientific logic than self acknowledgment or "enlightenment" as the Buddhists call it. The feeling of emptiness is referred to as the "hunger of the soul" and in order to fill it up people turn to "food, excitement, substances, relationships, [or] consumer products." "A carefully cultivated cool pose can keep the lid on the most intense feelings and violent emotions" (Anatomy of an Attitude). We attempt to stuff our emptiness with materials and cool poses. Nonetheless, these things can only provide temporary happiness.

In the Buddhist's point of view, letting go of all desires, or rather being able to understand that our desires are merely false interpretations of our bodies' urges is an essential part of the road to enlightenment. Therefore, this belief that "Oh, if my nose was a little bit narrower or if I had these new boots, my life would suck a little less," is false. Filling the gap with tangible items will not satisfy it. Instead, we need to come to terms with ourselves. The Stoics aimed to "overcome destructive emotions," such as the feeling of emptiness, to find inner peace (Kate). When we get rid of this blur, we will see that the hole is all but an illusion, and we should not let our emotions control us nor lead us into the chase of cool.

Cool as we learned, is all but an act. It consists of a protagonist and an audience. Of course, we all consider ourselves protagonists and everyone else the audience. This is where the aggrandizing and the process of filling the void come in. We raise our voices in the hallway as Andy S. says, we tattoo our bodies as self expression, we dress like they do in the magazines, etc. Attention is what we thrive on. Every scene is an expedition set for success or failure. It is a success if we are able to convince someone of the image we are trying to put forth, but a failure when we are challenged and end up losing face. In the Chinese language, we use "mo mien" (no face) to describe embarrassment or that the person is ready to hide from further confrontational moments. This is used similarly in the English language as well.

We're all identified as some type of storybook character whether we mean to come across as that image or not. Some archetypes are regarded more highly than others depending on the person. This is where cool comes into play. As some strive to be heroes, others strive to be rebels. These are all poses we take on to fill in our emptiness. Otherwise, who are we? Without an identity, we will be regarded at the bottom of the spectrum, as antagonists or even worst, as extras. So we adapt to trends, and speech, hoping that our audience will notice and snag us a spot somewhere high on the social ladder. We have determined throughout the unit that it is impossible to not fit into a archetype because running away from one will only put you in another. So where do we go from there? If we can't escape this, then what? "Don't fit into stupid roles" as Andy S. said. I agree. But then again, who’s to judge what's stupid or not? What is stupid based on? The number of tattoos you have? The number of times you take drugs a day? The amount of control you have towards the media's marketing tactics? No matter how obvious we might think it is that one role is better than another, it will always remain an opinion. Because I can say, it is stupid to be the hero, or the revolutionary, or the insightful loner, but it is cool to be the player, the slut, or the evil step mom and there's nothing anyone can do to prove that I am wrong.

There's no denying that we all have our own tailored image of coolness. Based on an interview we conducted, we had some people tell us who they thought were the coolest celebrities. One said, Jay Z, because he's "makin' money." Another said, Susan Sarandon and Gloria Steinem because of their dedication towards giving back to the community. It was clear that they both admired celebs that resembled themselves in some way. The first one was dressed in very baggy clothes with shades and was listening to his iPod. It seemed predictable that he was into artists like Jay-Z. The second person was a female who told us she was into volunteer work, similar to the acts of her stars. This shows that the way we picture cool does play a role in shaping who we are as people.

We were taught to be who we are. There's no authenticity in us to tap into. Each of us is a product made collectively from the things we view as cool. From the day we were born, our minds are constantly taking in what we consider cool and filtering out the things we don't like. The things we choose to keep make up the cool image we strive to talk, act, dress, and be like. Quoted from Rachel's blog, "We try to combine their personal maps with ours, try to incorporate all ideas into one, and try to set a direction for our lives." We can say authenticity is having a combination of aspects in our personality that is unlike any other combination. But that's as close to individuality as we can get. Even if you say, "I don't care what others think of me," you're submitting yourself into an aspired image of being a nonchalant, carefree person. There's still no authenticity in that type of map.

I've been shaped by my community, my culture, my family, my friends, and my classmates. So basically, it's everyone. My parents and my friends have been the ones who fed into my work ethics. My Asian heritage has encouraged me to work hard, and no play. My dad would shell out as much money as I needed for books, but would never purchase any game system for me. This convinced me that intelligence was above all else. But I consider my sister to be one of the most influential characters in shaping who I am. Back then, she was all I aspired to be like. I dressed the way she dressed. I started wearing makeup because she wore makeup. I started talking back to my parents because I saw her do it. My first sip of alcohol, my first cutting were all supervised by her. I know it sounds silly but she was my main guidance for everything and she probably didn't even know it. I turned to her for everything and as the years passed I started realizing how much I resembled her and now that I am more aware of it, I'm attempting to become my own person. This unit has made me think harder about why I'm the person I am. Magazines shaped me, T.V. shaped me, New York shaped me, friends shaped me, school shaped me, teachers shaped me etc. We are all aftermaths of the cools we want to be. Who we are is undeniably a composite of stolen identities which are also composites of other stolen identities and so on and so forth.

We don't realize that there is no such state of true authenticity, which is generally believed to be the highest level of cool. That is why we are constantly trying to find it through clothes, through speech, through attitude, through self expression such as tattoos, piercings, music, etc. This search is a failure to begin with, if the goal is to seek individuality and something to fill our void with. We will always remain characters in a play, always in a box, and always with a map. If someone wants to fill up their hole with wealth and materials, so be it. If someone else wants to follow the Buddhist's teachings because they believe that emptiness and desire are merely illusions, so be that. To each their own, I say. There is no right and wrong when it comes to a topic based on perspective. "If you want to sing out, sing out. If you want to be free, be free. ‘Cause there's a million things to be, you know that there are" (Cat Stevens). It is our own individual choice to decide whether we want to give in to our feelings of emptiness and whether aggrandizing ourselves is self fulfilling or not.

Cool Rules, Anatomy of an Attitude (Dick Pountain & David Robins)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism
http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/emptiness.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emptiness
Rachel's blog
Kate's blog
Andy Snyder
Cat Stevens "If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out"
Street interviews with strangers