It's Not Cool to Not Care

Futility by Lionello Balestrieri

I met a guy at work this summer who was super nonchalant. Like, hoodie and sweatpants all the time, never impressed by anything kind of nonchalant. A real cool guy. Except he wasn't cool. He was boring because he was nonchalant. 

I don't know how it started or who started it, but somehow someway we've gotten this false idea that it's cool to be nonchalant. Everyone seems to think that if you just stick your hands in your pockets and roll your eyes enough times, people will fall down at your feet and gawk at your coolness. 

In reality, people who act like they don't care about anything all the time are not fun to be around. They're difficult to converse with, difficult to get excited with, and just like that guy, they're boring. 

The whole thing stems from superiority. It's this idea that you're better than getting excited, better than having interests, better than stooping to the low depth of actually being passionate about something. It's this idea that everything is "not that deep," that it doesn't really matter, that everything's whatever. 

Except some things are that deep. Some things do matter. And it's your job to not only find out what those things are, but to react appropriately and be passionate about the things that do matter. That begs the question, what on earth matters? 

Some people are going to tell you it's Jesus (I would agree). Others are going to tell you it's the Selena Gomez-Justin and Hailey Bieber drama. Still others are going to tell you it's your education. You can listen to any of those people. You can watch Love Island just because all of your friends are watching it. You can pay attention to politics because your dad does. Or you can sit down and figure out what you like, and do that thing. 

Maybe it is politics. Maybe it's knitting. Maybe you think cars are really cool. In all honesty, you can pick whatever you want, as long as you pick something. Stop worrying about what other people think and what other people like and figure out what you think and what you like. Choosing your own thing instead of the thing that you picked because everyone else liked it is not only more fun for you, but it also makes you more interesting to others. 

People would rather know the real version of you, with real interests and hobbies, than the Labubu-obsessed persona you made up in the two months that Labubus were cool. And even if people think your passions are cringe or stupid, at least you'll be doing something you enjoy instead of acting like everything's boring and you're too cool. 

I'm sick and tired of people acting bored and being boring. It's not cringe to get excited. It's not cringe to have interests and to be interesting. It is cringe to pretend you don't care about anything and shrug your shoulders all the time. It's not cool to not care.