Hello old friends, new followers, and fellow bloggers-

Do you like country music?  My answer to that question used to be a resounding “no.”  In fact, I bragged in my distaste for the darling of American music.  I used the same old line when questioned:  “I just can’t get over the twang.” As a New Yorker who has adopted a Southern charm in my speech pattern, my response was like the pot calling the kettle black. Utterly hypocritical.  My accent was mixed with the fire of a New Yorker but the sweetness of a South Carolinian.  Anyways, for years I closed myself off to country music.  I didn’t listen to it and prided myself as one who never will.

Long story short, it’s 2020 and I’m sitting in my room listening to Hunter Hayes’ “Saint or a Sinner.”  How did I get here?  I was introduced to this song by someone I loved and it opened me up to the experience of country music.  When my friend sent me five country music songs, I said I would listen to them to be polite.  I never expected to fall in love with this song:  with the lyrics, the instrumentation and the overall feeling of the song.

I think that is what love does though: it confronts our prejudices and biases.  Love calls us out on our crap and reminds us that there is so much more in life than what we’ve experienced. The more we love others, the more we come to love so many different things.  I always tell my friends that if they want to have new experiences: grow in love.  Before you know it, you find yourself eating things you swore you would never try.  You’re listening to music that you would have scrolled by in the past. You’re interested in sports that you probably would’ve never considered.  The truth of the matter is that love opens you up to new experiences, to new adventures and to a brand new life.

I speak frequently about the failure of my past relationships but  I am grateful that I loved the men that I did.  Each of them has taught me something about myself, they have introduced me to so many different things and I am a more rounded person because of my time spent with them.

If I can encourage you to do anything, I would encourage you to love.  Love freely with everything inside of you.  Give love, grow in love, discover things to love… just love.  Broaden your horizons, try new things and don’t just agree to listen to a new song to be polite.  Allow love to shape you for the better!

Xoxo,

Simone