Sweet and Sour

This term means a few things to me. Could they be…

…Pork? No, I never really liked sweet and sour pork, a widely known Americanized Chinese entree found in places like Panda Express or your favorite P.F. Chang’s. The authenticity of sweet and sour [meat of choice] does exist, but most likely in China itself.

…The childhood roadtrip game? I used to play this with my cousins when we were kids as we sat in the backseat of a minivan, trying to avoid questions like “Are we there yet?” and “Can I go potty?” to our parents. You know, the game where you wave to other cars on the road? A wave back resulted in a ‘sweet’ expression, and a non-expression or glare resulted in a ‘sour’ expression. I’m not sure how we determined who won, but that was a game we played nonetheless.

Another way I think of sweet and sour is related to being who you genuinely are. It sounds pretty simple and it probably is. When I think of sweet, I think of character traits like charming, kind, nice, elegant, sincere, etc.. Sour, on the other hand, makes me think of bold, sassy, electric, spontaneous, and exciting. Being too sour can likely be bitter, if you know what I mean (ever had a Super Lemon?)! Sweet and sour represent two very different qualities which can affect how you are viewed by others.

After reading an article in Real Simple,I was inspired to think about this after reading the motivation section in my February issue. After all, the publication is about making your life, well, more simple. The main punch line here was to be a little sour sometimes! “Add a lemon,” they say. Why? Because those that are truly themselves without worrying about being liked by everyone are the ones who stand out. Those that do not hold back and mask their true identity are the ones that shine in whatever specialty they may be in. In our world of conflicting opinions, there will almost always be people that don’t like you.

Take Rachael Ray for example. Many of you know that I really enjoy her cooking shows, books, and personality. The main reason is because she is just being herself, spunky and all. She’s got millions of fans that love her as I do. On the flip side, I hear there are community groups that congregate to show their annoyance of her! Yes, apparently people do have that kind of time to waste. The point is, she still loves what she does and has that little bit of sour in her. And for the folks that don’t like her – they don’t matter.

Sometimes I catch myself aiming to be more sweet than sour. It’s certainly not a bad thing, but obviously the title of my blog indicates what my real purpose is – to be the real me! I still think that you can’t have too much of one thing, but sometimes having that extra sour punch is what draws the line between one thing and another.

Maybe that’s why people like sweet and sour pork – it has the unique and proportional combination of sweetness and tang to it. I still don’t like it, but I do like kettle corn, which is sweet and savory