PEORIA MAGAZINE November 2022

Another common trait among successful people is the commitment to lifelong learning, which requires investigation of new topics from a place of humility and persistence. Often that means repeated failure for the sake of growth. A play I read in college, “Chill” by Eleanor Burgess, speaks to the notion of this obsession with “coolness” in youth. In one scene, a 17-year-old girl desperately trying to get into her dream college says to a friend, “I don’t think Woody Guthrie was chill, I don’t think Quentin Tarantino is chill, I don’t think anyone who’s ever actually accomplished anything that matters is chill, because they are people who want things, and try to get things, and that is the opposite of being chill.” Too often, we are afraid of how it will look if we do or don’t take a certain job. We’re afraid of how it will look if we are single. We are afraid of how it will look if we live with our parents. Toxic “coolness” follows us into adulthood, rooting in the crevices of our minds and taking up valuable real estate that should belong to choosing what is best for each of us as individuals. And as much as I would like to say I shed this immature insecurity when I graduated high school or even college, I still find myself worried about what other people will think about the decisions I make. I offer this confession as a white f lag to my fellow 20-somethings. Your 20s are a time to try and to fail and to learn, and I have a sneaking suspicion the rest of life isn’t much different. The truth is, none of us knows what we’re doing. None of us is certain 100 percent of the time. No one is cool. I had a teacher in high school who would lovingly call her students “my sweet nerds.” It’s a term I’ve picked up and now use for some of my dearest friends. In her book of poetry, I Love Science , that same teacher wrote, “And the thing about it that gets me now, is that no one was really watching. All of these major tragedies, the fauxiest of pas, no one cared. It all seemed so public. So noticeable. So odd and unacceptable. An unwatched tragedy isn’t a tragedy. It isn’t anything.” Personally, I’ve lived with my parents for much longer than I would have liked. I hang light-up pumpkins in my room every fall. I rewatch the “Twilight Saga” every time I’m feeling even a tinge of sadness. I am not cool and I would venture to say, it’s the best thing about me. I AM NOT COOL AND I WOULD VENTURE TO SAY, IT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT ME

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a Festival of Trees C r i t t e n t o n C e n t e r s ' Holiday Inn & Suites Grand Prairie 7601 N Orange Prairie Rd., Peoria, IL 61615 l o f

Join us in person or online November 17-20, 2022

November 17th

November 19th Brunch & Bubbly 9:00 - 11:00 AM

Jingle & Mingle 5:30 - 8:30 PM Kick-off cocktail party & first auction item viewing

Family Day 1:00 - 6:00 PM

November 20th Silent Auction Ends at 12:00 PM 7.5ft & 4.5ft Trees Delivered November 21st

November 18th

Senior Day 10 AM - 2 PM

Youth Night 3:30 - 7:00 PM

Register at no cost to view and bid on 80 designer-decorated holiday items or to purchase tickets to enjoy them in person!

All proceeds benefit

CeCe Hill grew up in Normal and is a 2020 graduate of Webster Conservatory in St. Louis, where she studied acting and English. Currently, she resides in Morton and spends her free time scouting out the perfect spot to work on her sixth novel

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NOVEMBER 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE 83