Monday, February 9, 2009

SoulFed

So the source for this outlet of inspiration is somewhat roundabout.  I have a blog currently, Hubcitied, that I use for rather trivial and self-amusing subjects.  I have long pondered and even shortly experimented with adding a weightier substance to some of my posts but found that they did not really mesh.  I was at a bit of a loss for what steps I could take if I ever wanted to write about a more serious side of my life.  Initially I thought blogging was about sharing my thoughts with the world, as I have taken part in thought and writing I have realized that there is more to it than self gratification on the basis of others' approval of my work.  I find it cathartic to take loosely formed notions and transcribe them into thought out clumps of words that can be retrieved if the mood ever strikes me.  

The wellspring of thought that led to the creation of this blog is an email that I received from my schools chapter of SNDA concerning a dinner they were hosting.  The SNDA is the student arm of the minority themed National Dental Association and has a strong black heritage.  I am from the South and grew up in a school district that was 60% black and have a large number of black friends.  Upon going to college with a lot of northerners and very few blacks, then to dental school in Boston, I have encountered so many people who ascribe to a misguided crusade on political correctness.  I grew up eating Soul Food because of where I'm from, my grandparents grew up on a tobacco farm, it's what I know as normal.  The rest of the country apparently thinks that Soul Food is not only a black culinary designation but carries with it baggage of being negative because it is something people associate with blacks.  It is incredibly frustrating to me to feel incapsulated in a bubble where the words that I use can be restrung by someone looking to get offended.  People simply do not have trusting hearts when it comes to racial tensions, I don't know whether it is a function of society, media, radicals, or what, but the level of freedom with which we can discuss the goings on of life has been shrouded in euphemistic ambiguity clouded by a fog of vaguery that permits only the slimmest vestige of true meaning to be at all discernable.  

I asked some of my friends if people would get offended if I replied to the email concerning the SNDA dinner asking if they were serving soul food.  If the reply had been yes I would have gone in a heart beat, but apparently it would be offensive to presume that because it is a group with black heritage that there is a possibility that they would serve soul food.  

This experience coupled with my previous incapability to find an outlet for my thoughts relating to life, God, and where I find myself in relation to the first two have propelled me to create this here forum of my thoughts.  I would love to have friends follow me and exchange in dialogue with me, however mainly I would like for it to serve as a journal for my journey.

1 comment:

  1. Andy! It's a good thing whenever people are inspired to dig a little deeper. This sounds like just the blog that will encourage people to do just that. I saw Ashley the other day, and it brought back some good times with you. Hope you're doing well. Please tell Gwyn hey. Blessings my brother!

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