Aside from my brief year in Rochester, New York, I've lived my whole life in the South. Because of that I feel I technically have Southern roots even though I've never felt any kindred with the South. I've been told before that one day I'll come to appreciate them fully, but I can hardly imagine that when I don't even care about the United States and I also have no fond feelings for my home state of Texas.
But this is about my Southern roots and attempting to have some kind of appreciation for them. So I guess I can begin with Christianity since that seems to be an integral part of stereotypical Southern culture.
Personally I have no attachment to the Christian faith. It caused me some minor anxiety in the past, but now it means nothing to me. However I do feel that Christian morality has heavily shaped who I am in primarily good ways. While I have never really felt like a Christian, I have always appreciated the basic system of morality and attempted to adopt it for myself. If that counts as Southern roots then I can show my appreciation for that.
Many people talk about Southern hospitality but I don't really understand exactly what that is supposed to be. I guess I've taken in something like that in my desire to be a good host to people I have over? I try to make sure, as best I can, that everyone is comfortable and doesn't need something I could easily provide.
I guess that is something like Southern hospitality, but many of my peers that were also born and raised in the South don't share any of my sentiments. In that respect I can only think of my values as constructions of my own personal encounters with the world, not a generalized encounter with something called the South.
I honestly don't feel that there is any place that could be home or could be my roots. I believe that people constitute my home and my roots. My siblings are the rocks of my life and siblings are certainly not a Southern thing.
Maybe I'm just too young to understand this sentiment, but that just seems somewhat off. Either way, thanks for reading!
