Although I was born and raised in the South, I only recently began identifying as a Southerner.
Growing up, I learned to make great shots on the driving range as opposed to the shooting range and molasses-thick accents were absent in my household despite my mom being from Tennessee and my father from Georgia. College football game days weren't game days but rather just another beautiful Saturday spent down the South.
We listened to classic rock over country, said "cheers" in German at the dinner table and even took baby pictures in Lederhosen.
There's a common stereotype that Southerners can't drive in the snow but after spending time living in Colorado, my mom can drive through just about anything that mother nature throws at her.
I used to think that because of these things, and despite being raised in East Tennessee, I was not considered a Southerner.
Plainly put, because I could never check off the appropriate boxes for Southern stereotypes, I didn't think that "Southerner" was a term that applied to me, though, many times I wished it had.
What you need to know about the South is that though there are many (inaccurate) stereotypes, being from the South encompasses a myriad of qualities, characteristics, and traits.
From Music City to the Holy City, biscuits to brews, marsh to mountains and grits to grace, the South has become reconstituted into a young version of itself. I guess you could say the South has undergone a "Benjamin Button" phenomenon if you will and is aging backward.
The Old South has become the Young South or "Y.O.S.O" for short since everything these days seems to be shortened to a catchier version of itself. And what's most beautiful about this transition is that the Old South roots have not and will not be forgotten but rather have been revamped to being more contemporary and inclusive.
The thing about the South is that it doesn't seek approval; it breeds it. The South is now a breeding ground for what is accepted as young, hip, creative, fun, trendy, you name it. This is why people flock from all over the world to see what we have to offer.
There's an infectious, magnetic pull to the South that lures you in, blesses your heart and sends you on your way feeling a little more full and a lot more exposed to all that it has to offer.
If you've ever spent any time in cities like downtown Atlanta or Charleston, you'd quickly see an environment overflowing with growing diversity, a booming food scene and enough art and culture to make up for all of those art history classes you might have dozed off in during high school.
The South is big enough for large company headquarters and small enough for the corner mom and pop shop that sells the best local peaches East of the Mississippi.
Sometimes, it's hard to spot a Southerner because their Southern roots are just that— roots: something that holds them up, supports them, feeds them but often remains unseen from the outside.
This isn't because they're ashamed of their upbringing, in fact, it isn't that at all. Many of us Southerners get whisked away to far off places for various reasons and eventually, we find our way back home.
After going away and coming back, we bring each and every experience with us and in turn, reinvest that into the place we get to call home.
This is why in Charleston you can enjoy a creative, Asian fusion meal housed in an eclectically renovated gas station one night and be sitting in a staple like Hominy Grill the next morning pouring yourself over a big bowl of grits with a side of biscuits and gravy.
Now more than ever there's more to love about the South than our coveted fried chicken and sweet tea.
The Young South has it all: all kinds of people, places, plates, and pizzaz.
