I was recently interviewed regarding what it is to be a Bourbon Cowgirl ®. Even though I expected the question, the answer is what caught me off guard…
I thought I knew the answer. My mind shouted, “Well, go ahead, what are you waiting on…speak.” The words were frozen on my lips. My lashes crashed together in a paralyzing slow motion as I tried to blink my way out of the moment. I felt my neck release months of tension, and my head fell slowly forward, and before the windows to my soul disappeared, they captured the room in its entirety.
In milliseconds my mind read the space before me and it was in that fleeting glance, I connected with the kindred spirits.
-At side glance, stood a short lady. A rather bulky scarf thrown around her neck. She had tiny crow’s feet lining her eyes and silver hair. She had a comfortable posture and she wagged her fingers as to orchestrate every maneuver in the room. It was with her that everyone took their cue.
-To the back of the room, behind the protection of the glass, leaned a woman. Her face was illuminated by the bright lights of the sound room and the multitude of colored control buttons. She appeared to be a rather tall blonde. She looked professional in her smart, long sleeve dress, and with her arms out stretched manipulating the controls, she took on the persona of the wizard from the Wizard of Oz. I liked her much better than the actual “wizard.”
-Stage right was a dark-haired girl with cue cards resting comfortably on a bulging belly, full of baby. (No bourbon for her…for the time being.) Her youthfulness was marred by a tiredness that came from the cargo she was carrying and having to stand so the interview at hand stayed its course.
-Straightaway loomed the black outline of the camera, the little red light glowing like a lighthouse beacon. With her face obscured by the equipment she was operating, I relied on her throaty laugh and the pink ribbon she had pinned to her hooded vest to provide me some definition of who she might be. I liked her. She was witty, competent, and always seemed one step ahead of the team.
-In the crux of the back corner, back to the wall, remaining quiet and still while filming took place, I could see a glimpse of “Derby” as she encouraged me with her infectious smile and a quick flash of the peace sign. Derby was the first person I met that day. Her enthusiasm was contagious, the way she dressed, bold, and her raven-colored hair was mesmerizing. Meeting me at the studio entrance, Derby literally skated up to me upon my arrival, took my hand like we had been life-long friends, and started my tour by showing me the coffee and doughnut table.
-Within an arm’s reach sat my interviewer. Prepared, orderly, personality type A+, not a ginger-colored hair out of place, and those eyebrows arched in a demanding fashion, all the while her green eyes reassuring, legs crossed at the ankle like a perfect lady, and that voice, steady, never wavering.
My head snapped back to position, my heart jumped but for a second, and then I started to answer……
I am heart. I am soul. I was born to love. I was born to thrive. I love my God. I nurture. I create. I cry. I hurt. I die. But through it all I continue to try. I live out loud. The world is my canvas. My dearest friends, my tribe. I am the Bourbon Cowgirl.