BitterSweetLife

The relative silence around here lately has made me bashful. It’s time for a tech post.

I realize I need to cast some light on my (somewhat cryptic?) category tags, so here goes. I’ll outline the first dozen or so, and then try and make some helpfully sweeping statements by means of clarifying what’s there and what’s not.

The Tags Explained

Academics
Nothing too mysterious here. I’m in school. Sometimes I talk about it.

Beauty
Beauty is a recurring theme here, because its appearance is often wonderfully enigmatic and strange (bittersweet). The way we apprehend beauty fascinates me, and I find it very revealing.

Bittersweetness
The key theme of the blog, and my beginning premise. I debated whether or not to include this category because it runs through much of what I write. However, certain posts deal with the issue of bittersweetness directly and explicitly.

Books
Another no-nonsense tag. I read them, and then I feel compelled to talk about them. Clearly, you should read them too.

Christ
I see Christ as the author of this puzzling phenomenon, bittersweetness, and the ultimate source of human joy. At various points, I try to unpack this relationship, consider Jesus’ startling personality, and the surprising effects that he has on our lives.

Clues
I find myself increasingly convinced that the visible world is filled with clues, threads, conduits, channels—all pointing to an invisible world, a higher reality—what C.S. Lewis called the “undiscovered country.” These are clues we don’t want to miss.

Controversy
I always enjoy a good-natured argument. Now and then I bring up an issue that has been known to make people red in the face.

Creation
This tag deals simply with the natural world—the outdoors, woods, mountains, beaches, lakes. I find nature divinely lovely. Thus this category relates closely to many experiences of Beauty.

Culture
I rarely write about movies, media, movements, music, mags, etc., just to document them. So posts pertaining to “culture” will generally have to do with cultural perspectives, ingrained ways of looking at things, and my occasional jabs at popular idiosyncrasies.

Death
Bet you don’t know what to expect on this one. Keep in mind that I think a lot about the unseen, Christ’s higher reality. In relation to this dimension, death is hardly a morbid topic. As well, “death” need not always denote physical death. There are other ways of dying.

Edges
Think of “edges” as the bitter aspect of bittersweet. We look at them closely, and find ourselves surprised at what they actually imply. They may make us bleed, but we often discover that the pain has unexpected effects—effects that may actually be “central-,” not “side-.”

Freedom
I find that freedom in this life is an elusive and paradoxical experience. It relates directly to bittersweetness, is not primarily socio-economical, and deserves considerable thought. What does it mean to be really free?

Heaven
Here is an unavoidable element of bittersweetness. On a large scale, I argue that the reality of heaven, present and future, explains the presence of this inexplicable beauty (sweetness) that wracks an ugly world. Heaven: it’s different than you've been told.

Hoops
I always said it was my height that kept me out of the NBA. That doesn’t mean I’ve lost my deadly J and killer crossover. My love for the game compels me to document my hoops exploits, brag on the KU Jayhawks and explain at every opportunity why I’m a better balla than you. Is that a splinter in your eye?

(To be continued…)

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Some Helpfully Sweeping Statements

You may be wondering at the absence of several tags that should obviously be present. “Coffee,” for example. Or “Irony.” Maybe even (if you like this blog) “Humor.” My thought was that if I began trying to isolate posts that dealt specifically with these elements (which color most of my writing), I would end up with massive, fairly confusing lists. However, tell me if I’m wrong. I’m open to someone making the case for an unadulterated “Coffee” category. You could also try and convince me that a “Genius” tag is a must-have. I’d like that.

It’s possible, though, that I’ve myopically overlooked tags that would make a lot of sense. Feel free to enlighten me. And yeah, “Hot air” has already been suggested.

I’ll finish outlining my current categories in a second post.