Why I'm Southern...

My first thought is I'm Southern for the same reason I'm a girl. God made me that way. A blessing bestowed on those of us lucky enough to have been born south of the Mason-Dixon line. But being Southern is so much more than where you poked your head into the world.

I admit I am the stereotypical Southern Belle...Dixie peach...whatever. Go ahead...stereotype me. It's okay as long as you do it right. Born in Vicksburg, MS and raised in Louisiana, there is no question about it. I look like a Southerner. I have pink lips to match my pink shoes and purse. I have pearls and heels on even though I'm wearing jeans. I sound like a Southerner. I smile and say "Hi, yall" to everyone I pass. I say "Bless your heart" often. Sometimes, "bless your heart" is a sweet sentiment. Sometimes, it's not. But only I know the difference. I would never let my daddy hear a cuss word come from my lips 'cause he'd whoop my 36 year old butt faster than an ice cube would melt in hell. I act like a Southerner. I know how to play Just As I Am and Oh, How I Love Jesus on the piano. This from the required years of piano lessons. I love to sit on my front porch and drink sweet tea waving at the cars that drive by.

But being Southern is really something much deeper. Southern girls may "look" and "act" a certain way. But being Southern is a way of "living." It's simple elegance whether you serve iced tea in Mason jars or Mimosas in champagne glasses. It's simple graciousness whether you are sitting on the front porch with your neighbor or hosting a wedding of 500 guests. It's being polite to your best friend or your worst emeny. It's being smart, strong, elegant at the same time. It's being seasoned, fresh, and new at the same time. It's embracing feminity. It's not being too stuffy and stiff. Genteel, cultured, refined come to mind but not in a way that stifles the life out of ya. It's keeping the antebellum graces that we grew up with alive.

I'm Southern by birth but I think that sense of Southern simplicity and graciousness is what makes me proudest to call myself a Southern girl. I'm such a old fashioned, nostalgic soul. I love the beauty and strength of Southern women. I love the Southern life and all that it entails. I'm really blessed to have this life.

(Yall, check out my sidebar for more "Why I'm Southern" essays. Just click Southern blogs and it will take you to the links. Thanks and enjoy!)