UpWord

Brimming with New Year's resolution, I figured I should start a blog. After all, I've been spending enough time reading and commenting on other blogs. I don't know where this blog will lead, but I begin now because I love to write. If anyone else cares to read it, that will be a bonus.

I chose the title "UpWord" for a few reasons. The first was in considering how I would characterize my political viewpoint. I have become dissatisfied with the labels of "liberal" and "conservative", "left" and "right". They represent an increasingly thoughtless and artificial dichotomy in which I for one find no home. Thus, "upward" came to mind to express a better direction and one altogether orthogonal to the left-right axis. I also love words, and so the play on words of "UpWord" was appealing. (Besides, the "upward" blogspot was already taken by a disillusioned dying preacher. Go figure.)

I also liked UpWord better than OnWord or OutWord, because I hope that the direction will be generally up. I inherited my mother's spunk, and am an optimistic character. My cup is never half-empty. Neither is it ever half-full: the cup is sometimes oversized. I feel quite grateful that the direction of my life has been generally "up", and I pray that trajectory will continue. I hope that my life, and my words here, in some small measure will lift the world "upword".