With the 2025 school year coming to an end, the term bittersweet roams free in my mind.
One big reason is that this upcoming weekend, my fourteen year old swing set is ultimately being taken down. Granted, it is an inanimate object, wood does not last forever, and it also has been out in the elements of the weather. It threatens the chance of crumbling every time someone sways on a swing.
But before it was beaten down to how it is now, I have memory after memory stored in my mind from this swing set. Moments where I have poured soap on the slide, along with water from the hose to go down at an alarming speed. I have recollections of when I used to act as a restaurant owner on the inside of the swing set, selling fake food to my parents. Times where family friends and I would play in the top of the tree house, pretending we were in a pirate ship. Now that I have grown up, I do not remember the last time I sat on a swing, or climbed the ladder up into the top. Nothing lasts forever, but I am especially glad I was able to grow up with that one constant in my life. It is bittersweet.
This is one word that sticks out to me, as it carries a thousand meanings. This phrase sparks different ideas or memories for different people. To one person, the term bittersweet may involve thoughts regarding food, like sour patch kids; something that is “first sour, then sweet.” Bittersweet is an example of juxtaposition, a contrast between two opposites. Like night and day, or good and evil.
Bittersweetness reminds me of seniors that I have grown close with who are graduating, advancing into their next chapter. Maybe this term can be related to moving up grades and leaving your favorite classes, or watching an adored teacher retire.
There are also frequent bittersweet feelings that are not caused by the end of school. Reminiscing on old memories with grandparents, finishing a comfort show, listening to an old song that used to be a favorite, even the last day of a vacation.
But why do we feel bittersweetness? Usually it occurs with the ending of a situation; for example, graduating high school. Places that people have grown to love, and people they were able to see everyday, become new places and new people. Realizing that they will never be in this exact place again gives a sense of mournfulness. However, it also creates a feeling of accomplishment and excitement for their future. That is the feeling of bittersweetness: two contrasting emotions coexisting with each other.
One sophomore at East Islip High School associates the word nostalgia with bittersweet, thinking of her sister leaving for college. “She [her sister] gets to experience a new life,” she says, “but I miss her of course.”
From the American Psychological Association, the term bittersweet can entitle “a mixed emotion that entails a happy memory with a tinge of sadness.” These types of bittersweet feelings are the ones that typically include a ‘remember when’ conversation with people you have been close with. Thinking about old memories with a family member or friend, missing what you used to have, and maybe who you used to be, but also being thankful that you were able to know them, and content with who you are now.
A number of people also believe that human life itself is the best description of the term bittersweet. One song that is a superior example of this is “Bitter Sweet Symphony” by The Verve, in 1997. I believe that there are too few songs as amazing as this song, as it has many underlying themes within it. The biggest one exposes how life is not only a tragedy, but also beautiful. This song starts off with the lyrics “‘Cause it’s a bitter sweet symphony, this life,” describing how if life were to be considered in a symphony, the song would encapsulate the misery, and joy in living. With bitter notes along with sweet notes, following the ups and downs in which life presents.
Bittersweetness should never be looked at in just a negative, sad way, but also a positive way, just as the term is described. All moments in life come to an end, for example taking down a childhood memory keepsake, like the tree house in my backyard. But with every ending is a new beginning, and that is what needs to be remembered with a bittersweet feeling.
