This article has taken me unprecedentedly long to write. Normally, I can sit down, write a publication in less than an hour and then send it to the editors to clean up my inordinate amount of grammatical errors. This one, however, took me a long time to write. At first, when I came up with the title, I just wanted to let my fans know that I am 6 feet, 2 inches. However, I felt like that wouldn’t be up to par with my other publications. (My fanbase needs to be satisfied.) It was not until I was back in my hometown of Chicago (ranked by Condé Nast as the best big city in the United States for eight consecutive years) that I was struck with inspiration.
In Chicago, I was able to reunite with some of my friends from high school. And, like old friends do, we decided to go hit the links and talk about the economic and political state of the world. During our round (which I won) I showed my friend, who is a pretty silly person, the title of this publication. After reading it, he explained to me how he hates the societal trend of being nonchalant. As someone who frequently spews brain rot and has no social anxiety, my friend said that being nonchalant takes away the pureness of being a human. He said that when people force themselves to be nonchalant, it takes away from the freedom we all inherently have as human beings. He told me that when people restrain themselves from dancing to white girl music, or when they wear baggy pants and huge hoodies in 90 degrees to sustain their “aura,” they lose important aspects of life. He declared that this is a travesty. This rant lasted for about five minutes, and he finished it by missing a 2 foot putt.
While my friend does not necessarily give the best insight into life (most of the things he says are stupid), his rant stuck with me a little bit. What does nonchalant really mean? Has nonchalance impacted our lives? Are we inherently nonchalant, or are we meant to frolic with the wind?
After pondering over this concept for many hours while staring at the gorgeous skyline of Chicago, I came to the conclusion that my friend is wrong. It became clear to me that everyone is unique. Every single person has their own individual, one-of-a-kind personality. While my friend may believe that being nonchalant restricts one from living life to the fullest, someone else may believe that being nonchalant is the best way to experience life to the fullest. Maybe the essence of being nonchalant is an inherent part of their personality.
Even as I sit here at Dewick, I can witness the dichotomy between personalities. I can see the student athletes at the circle tables with their huge parkas and four plates of chicken and pasta right next to some SMFA students wearing custom mesh clothes that “break societal rules.” They have conflicting personalities. But those parkas represent the athletes’ past experiences and individual personalities, and those mesh shirts represent the SMFA student’s inherent personality.
And why should we care? Why should I care about another person’s personality? If that is who they want to be and they are happy, why is it wrong? It is not. However, when my personality and, in turn, my corresponding actions, start restricting the opportunities of another person, it becomes an issue. While this may not make so much sense in the context of parkas and mesh shirts, it makes more sense when we expand it to beliefs and individual thoughts.
I believe that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. However, once their beliefs start to hurt and inhibit others, it becomes a problem. This is an extremely sensitive topic and, if you could not tell, this conversation is leading toward a more political context. I pondered whether or not to touch on the upcoming election in November, but as someone who has a platform, I felt obligated. I have my own beliefs that have been shaped by my 19 years of experience, and I will not push those on you. However, I do urge you all to vote. Vote vote vote vote vote. It is so important that you share your unique voice. Do research and vote for the candidates that align with your personal beliefs. You have a voice; use it.
Anyway, my publication is a little bit unique this edition. I kind of turned down the comedy, but I believe that this is an important message, especially as a very tense time approaches us. Make sure you vote, make sure you do not let people infringe on your beliefs or the opposite and make sure you remember that I am 6 feet 2 inches (that’s the most important).
Reaching the top shelf,
Ben Rachel
