The "Joie de vivre" in Dixie Land

When I was living in the congested, polluted, crime ridden north, I never thought that I had the time, or even the right to enjoy life. I worked and paid bills. I had my mind on my money and money on my mind, like my dude Snoop:

Source of Pic: 944

But since being here in the Good Ol'South, my inner child has peeked her little head back around, and I'm learning what the joie de vivre (joy of living) really means.

My turning point started with a very insightful convo with my really good friend BethAnn Mills:

BethAnn: "You've missplaced your inner child darlin'."

Me: "Well, when I became an adult, I put away childish ways."

BethAnn: "Just because you're an adult now, doesn't mean you can't play from time to time. Life is too short to be scared to try new things, to allow yourself to get wet, or dirty. Here in the south, we like to play regardless of what stage we are in our lives."

Since then, I have started to embrace my inner child, and do as they do in Dixie Land...find the joy of living.

Last April, I actually agreed to do something I never thought I would do. NEVER, EVER!!! I hopped in the car, drove to the mountains with a group of friends, and went white water rafting.

WHAT!!!!?

You know I had to have a pep talk with myself, because where I'm from, the only people that ride the rapids are dead ones.

Let me tell you. We paddled and fought class 4 rapids for 9 plus miles down the Nolichucky River. Two people fell overboard. We got dirty, wet, bit by flies, and I suffered the worst case of sun poisoning in my life.

High Mountain Expeditions in Banner Elk, NC

I LOVED it!!! 

I plan on going white water rafting again. It forced me to have nothing else to do, but lay on a rock, in a valley, next to rushing water, and find my happy place. To appreciate the beauty of  nature and what God has done in my life.

Life really is too short to forget to play...

Rascal Flatts-Play

And life is too long to forget the joy of living.

Keith Urban-Days Go By

Awww...Bless your heart sug

Ok, so being that this is my very first blog post, I want to write about my favorite thing about the south.

Southern Charm

In the south people write thank you notes and say "hey or hello" as you pass by them. They will wait until the light has turned green, for more than five seconds, before they toot (not lean on) their horns. And they would rather bless your heart, than make you feel hurt or unwelcomed. 

Let me just say that the whole "Bless your heart" saying was lost on me when I first heard it. It took a few of my friends to explain why someone would say bless your heart, rather than tell you their true feelings.

As Alexius Farris explained, “In the south, people are taught that if you don’t have anything nice to say, you don’t say anything at all. However, saying bless your heart is a nice way to say, 'That’s stupid/silly, ugly or I feel so sorry for you.'”

I then had to explain to her that in the north we feel very differently. Where I grew up, if a person doesn’t tell you how they truly feel, than people tend to see them as untrustworthy.

Yet, after all was said, I can accept that our world could be a more civilized place to live if everyone blessed each other’s hearts every now and again, versus not taking someone else’s feelings to heart.

And I don’t know anyone that puts it better than Miranda Lambert: