effortless coolness

i've noticed over the years that there are some people who just seem to be be super cool without even trying. they always look great, they always have smart and interesting things to say, and they always have a huge and adoring group of friends. i look at these people and know that i will never be like that. i mean, i try, but i will never be one of those people who is just effortlessly cool.

i still think that, but now i guess i realize that, even though all of that seems effortless, it most likely isn't. there are people who actually put a lot of work into that kind of persona, and i just don't really want to put that much work into something that isn't really me. but, another thing i realized is that usually even the people that seem like they have it all together either don't really or don't think they do. we all have little insecurities, things that keep us from feeling like we are as awesome or as cool as we really are.
 
even now, after i wrote most of this post, i got stuck thinking that i need to be more like other people. i was reading several different people's blogs and wishing i could write like they do. but then i realized, wait, i can't just change the way i think here! i don't need to write like anybody else, but i can appreciate how other people do things.

this is starting to sound like a general conference talk, so i might as well end with a couple good quotes.

to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.  

e.e. cummings

always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else

judy garland (who doesn't love her?)