{"id":17664,"date":"2016-10-30T19:28:43","date_gmt":"2016-10-30T19:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/?p=17664"},"modified":"2016-10-30T19:28:43","modified_gmt":"2016-10-30T19:28:43","slug":"okay-sometimes-uncool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/okay-sometimes-uncool\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s Okay to Sometimes Be “Uncool”."},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve noticed that many millennials\u00a0are very adamant about always appearing \u201ccool and unbothered\u201d. Heaven forbid we aren’t easy going at all times. One of the best compliments you can give to someone these days is \u201cOh yea! She\/he is really cool\u201d. Sometimes I also get caught up in this trap of trying to constantly appear “cool”.<\/p>\n

I hold my tongue when I really want to speak. I will hesitate to act on something when I know deep down that I should. Or I\u2019ll reply, \u201cit\u2019s okay\u201d when someone apologizes for something they have done to me that has caused a lot of discomfort or struggle. Actually, it wasn\u2019t okay. Why do I have to pretend it was?<\/p>\n

I understand that sometimes you have to be flexible and accommodating; especially in a professional setting. Sometimes you have to take one for the team. However, it\u2019s okay to not be okay with everything. It\u2019s fine to not agree with and be open to all the happenings going on around you. Don\u2019t lie to yourself or others about it. Don\u2019t be afraid of ruffling a few feathers every now and then.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, saying \u201cactually, its not okay\u201d opens up the doors for discovering new and better ways of doing things. \u00a0You aren’t\u00a0mean or tense just because you don\u2019t like everything. I wish people felt more comfortable with a little conflict. It\u2019s a normal part of life.<\/p>\n

This past summer I lived in Spain as an aupair. One of the other aupairs kept telling everyone about this wonderful, beautiful hike along the sea that she had taken the previous summer. One afternoon, with much anticipation we prepared for this great hike, with the one who had taken it before leading the way. A few weeks before this hiking trip I told myself that I wanted to start being more “easygoing and okay” with things.<\/p>\n

\"make-your-own-path\"<\/p>\n

As we were taking this hike, I got this feeling that the one leading the group had lost the trail and was too embarrassed to tell us. Instead of being on a designated walking path, we were going through tough weeds and greenery that slapped against our skin and created large welts on our legs.<\/p>\n

No one spoke. No one wanted to be the uptight one to ruin the fun because they weren\u2019t \u201cdown for whatever\u201d. We had looked forward to this hike and travelled hours away to get here. We kept walking… and I<\/em> didn\u2019t speak either. Besides, I had just made that promise to myself that I would start being cooler! So I waited, hoping someone else would be the \u201cuncool\u201d one and stop this disastrous journey. Then it just got ridiculous, and our welts started to bleed. Literally blood was dripping down our legs. Finally, I stopped. I said, \u201cyou guys. This isn\u2019t fun anymore. I\u2019m not cool with this\u201d.<\/p>\n

Then everyone else agreed. They said, \u201cyea, me neither actually\u201d. Why was it so hard for us to say this a long time ago? If I weren\u2019t the uptight one to break up the party, who knows how much longer we would have gone. Sometimes, we all have to be that<\/em> person. Whether it\u2019s while working on a group project at the office or navigating our personal lives. It\u2019s al right to not always be known as the super easy going, down one. You may not be invited to as many parties, and maybe some people will downright dislike you and your \u201cuncool\u201d attitude. But you can sleep at night knowing that you are being true to yourself and creating the world you want to live in as opposed to always submitting to your environment. And that\u2019s totally cool.<\/p>\n

Being a part of the community development arena in Detroit, I am\u00a0bound to find myself involved in touchy conversations that everyone may not agree on. As an African American female, I have to make a commitment to myself to not be afraid of speaking up and suggesting alternative ways of approaching things. I sometimes find that I am one of the few minorities at the table during community development discussions. I’m definitely not the speaker of all black people but I feel almost obligated\u00a0to speak on issues, even if it means I have the “uncool” or unpopular opinion. Being a minority means that I have different life experiences that can bring a different perspective. One of my goals is to become comfortable with sometimes being “uncool”. Not because I want to be seen as the pot stirrer, but because someone has to.<\/p>\n

-Gabrial Taylor:<\/p>\n

Year 5 Challenge Detroit Fellow<\/p>\n

\"coufzsmh\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve noticed that many millennials\u00a0are very adamant about always appearing \u201ccool and unbothered\u201d. Heaven forbid we aren’t easy going at all times. One of the best compliments you can give to someone these days is \u201cOh yea! She\/he is really cool\u201d. Sometimes I also get caught up in this trap of trying to constantly appear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17664\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}