Style

Have you ever seen somebody at a wedding who could REALLY dance? I'm talking about that person, or couple, who steals the show. Clears the floor. You know what I am talking about. Sometimes they are an older couple who has been married for forty years, sometimes they are 20. But when they start dancing, wow.

Or what about the way people dress? I am sure you can think of somebody that you know who always seems to look good, always seems to out dress those around them. they have the right shoes, great pants and shirt, their hair is just so, etc.

Of course cars are an image for me. How much different of an image does a car present about the person behind the wheel? There are so many cliche's about cars that it seems endless to make the list. Think of 3 cars, then think about the type of person who drives them. I'll do it for you. What sort of person drives a Porsche? A Cadillac? What about a jacked-up pickup truck?

Style. Attitude.

Some people have inherently more style than others. I know a lot of people who definitely have a style that belongs solely to them. I also know a lot of folks who just sort of blend in. I know some of those show stoppers. I know some of the ones who sit in the back of the crowd and watch.

I have been fortunate in my life to have had some times that I felt i did something with a unique style.

The odd part is that showing a little style always seems to take a lot of guts for me. It is usually easy to blend in. To stand out seems to require that a person extend themselves, put themselves out there just a little more or further than what they are comfortable with.

Stylish clothes are not my norm. So when I do choose to dress well, I usually feel as though it is a little over the top. In order to show that you can really sing, or dance, you have to be willing to be on stage a little. And because the idea of style usually goes hand in hand with the idea of being unique, IE, not the same as everybody else; the risk of course, is that people wont like your style.

We are social creatures, we don't want to put on a show that people don't like. We want to fit in. Doing something with style is the opposite of fitting in.

My standard response to this is as follows. Everybody will have an opinion. There will be those that don't like your style. There will be those that really like your style. But when you really lay it out there and do something that doesn't blend in, everybody will have an opinion. You will have already transcended the mediocre.

Doing something with style removes you from the masses. It shows your character. I think that the reason most people don't stretch the limits is because of this separation. There is a risk of negative feedback, which by and large, the social human animal does not want to be subject to. As much as most people want to be unique, and known for something; we also don't want to be KNOWN for anything in particular. Especially if it isn't popular. Oddly, to me, doing something popular is just about as close to the opposite of doing something with style as I can think of.

I brought up the couple at the wedding who can really dance. They have style in the eyes of the onlookers. A certain celebrity status if you will. and generally, everybody likes to watch them. But yet, most people don't ever learn to dance because doing so would separate them from the masses and put them in the public eye. Picture a middle school dance during which all of us sat on the sidelines most of the time. It is probably hardest to show any style during adolescence.

Another example, which shouldn't surprise anybody coming from me, has to do with cars. Foose painted his truck a while ago, and I did this weekend with mine, in a style which we know will likely not be enjoyed by roughly half of those who see it. Why would we do something to our vehicle that we know most of the people are not going to appreciate? For the sake of style.

Part of style is not being afraid of the opinion of others. When you consider something like a unique vehicle, it makes sense to me. Lets face it. Everybody can appreciate a perfect shiny red paint job. Nobody really cares, but nobody really dislikes it either. But if you do something controversial, everybody has an opinion. Granted, you may garner as many dislikes as you do likes. But the essence of style is the ability to generate interest.

And maybe that is the essence of tonight's thought. Maybe having style has less to do with doing what is popular than it is to do with generating interest. Maybe it is that little extra touch that makes you unique.

I guess my biggest fear in life is being forgettable. I want to know that I have made some sort of a dent somehow. That I have been of influence. That I have been noticed. And that I have done something good.

In the last post, I referenced the song "Feed Jake"

Tonight I reference another country song. "and on the day they lay me down, I want everyone to gather round, say he was a husband, father, neighbor and an friend. he was a good man" That's style.