What would Dolly Do?

As we honor Labor Day and all the hard work and dedication it takes for each of us to show up to work, as individuals, as workers, and as members of our respective countries, we want to take a moment to honor one lady who shed light on "working 9 to 5" and so much more. Here's to Dolly, may she R.I.P.

Sometimes the people who touch our lives most deeply leave us with something that has nothing to do with what they accomplished, and everything to do with how they made us feel.

In this episode, I reflect on Dolly Parton's light, humor, generosity, and the beautiful paradox of becoming someone so much bigger than the persona the world sees. We explore authenticity, self expression, trusting our inner knowing, and what it means to keep showing up and sharing our light.

In this episode:

• The gap between who we are and who others think we are
• What Dolly teaches us about authenticity and self expression
• Trusting our intuition and inner knowing
• Why our energy and what we leave behind matter
• Letting go of the small stuff and focusing on the bigger light
• What it means to keep showing up, creating, and shining

A reflection to take with you:

What would it look like to stop making yourself smaller and start showing up more fully as the person you know yourself to be?

And maybe, when you're not sure what to do next, ask yourself: What would Dolly do?

The world needs the light that only you can bring.

Adventure on.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:53

Welcome back, you guys. It's a little over a week, I think, since Dolly Parton died. It might have been two weeks. I feel bad. I should double check the date, but we're in the wake of her death. And it has had me thinking a lot. I cried the moment I found out she passed and what Dolly Parton represented to me and how I've channeled her energy. I quoted her in my TEDx Spokane talk. I quoted her talking about horse sense. And it's been amazing to really do a deep dive into Dolly Parton. I did this before I quoted Dolly Parton in my TEDx talk. I did this and do this before, ideally, though not always, because as a podcaster, we can kind of just get to talking, sharing my thoughts about a celebrity or sharing a story about them that is theirs because it's really their story. It's their energy. And it's interesting because we have this projection of who we are, and then we also have the reality of who we actually are. And when you enter some sort of celebrity status, which I have a bit of as a podcaster, I have people who don't know me at all, but they feel like they know me because they hear my voice in their ear and they listen to me regularly, even though we have never met. It's amazing. It is so powerful to live in a time where we can connect in this really powerful way through voice, through our thoughts. But it's easy, I think, for us to get wrapped up in those lower thoughts, which are not of our highest purpose and our highest service. And so what's so interesting to me about Dolly Parton as a paradox is the lower, and here I am. And if you're watching on video, I'm kind of like putting my hands over my chest. But she was known for her 40 double-D bosom, right? And because she knew she was known for it, she had jokes lined up in preparation for people saying something to have this self-deprecating humor, but also the bosom, the heart, the ability to give to others was just larger than life, larger than what's actually real, than what a woman could actually do. She had this projection beyond herself that attracted people to her. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelz giving $2 million the month before she died. She has helped millions and millions of children be able to read books and step into stories and another narrative, another way of thinking, another way of being. And that's exactly what Dolly taught us. I mean, she understood, and one quote I heard of her is that she dreamed herself into this corner, into this life, into this personality that was bigger than she was, and then she had to live up to it. Whoa! That gap between who you actually are and who people think you are. This came up a little bit last month as we were focusing on children and entrepreneurship and children's dreams and the Miracle Children's Network, and children being sick and not maybe living a full life, but still having these dreams and being able to see and point out celebrities and ask them to come in costume or in their personality of Superman or whatever it is, and how real these celebrities are in real time, real life. They're real humans. Even if we're dressing up, if we're putting on the party hat and stepping into the persona, I do not believe in cutting myself up all the power to Dolly for the decisions she made around reconstructing her body, and by God, what that did for her, right? Me staying true to myself. This is not about that, but I do feel like it's an important point to distinguish it's okay to have different choices about what we do with our bodies, about how we do and don't show up, but keep sharing, keep speaking, keep stepping into your light because that that is what Dolly did for us. That is what's left behind. All the other stuff is gonna just disappear. We are not gonna remember it. It is gonna be water under the bridge. But who she was to each of us, that memory, what she represented, the way that all the things she created, Dollywood, her humor, her song, her magic, her stage presence, her love for others. Let's let that be what we put front and center. And my prayer is that that would be not just for Dolly, but for each and every one of us, that we might come from our highest selves, the truth of who we are, not the smallness of who others make us up to be. So that is what I have for you today. My heart is breaking for Dolly, for all those who loved her, her close family members, and my heart is bursting with joy for the belief that she's in heaven and she's played so many parts as an angel in heaven. It's like, but she's there with her husband of 60 years, who she lost a year ago. They're back together, and all her beloved's on the other side. My heart is just bursting with joy that she's an angel now, truly, on the other side, working for each and every one of us to shine our freaking light, man.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

That's what Dolly would do. WWD. What would Dolly do? You know? W D W D W W J D. What would Jesus do? I'm a huge Jesus lover, but I'm into the walk of Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Not necessarily, quote, the talk, which is what religion has become, this talk, this interpretation of age-old text. I am here for the spirit of it. Let's not get into all these little pieces and parts and cut each other up. Let's focus on the light, on the the bigger aura in it all, between us all, for us all. That's what Dolly would do. That's the the horse sense. It's not just what happens, it's the energy of it that we get to bring and receive and clear space and grieve and just be truly present for it. And I think one of my favorite stories about Dolly that's come up this month is that there was a drag queen contest, everyone dressing up as Dolly, and she showed up for it and she teased her hair a little bigger, and she lost. She lost to another drag queen as herself. And that is actually what it is. When you truly create and manifest at this highest level, it's no longer you. It's like a shadow of you that other people keep recreating and talking about and doing all these things. And that is the adventure paradox of celebrity. That's fascinating. It's truly fascinating. So, anyways, I love you all. I'm so grateful to be here. And thank you for listening. And we have some amazing stuff on the podcast this month to really do that inner work, to shine your light on the outer work of whatever else you have going on. And I can't wait to share this incredible new space we've moved into, some awesome things we have coming for you this fall. But right now, I'm still kind of in that inner work a little bit. So you'll be getting more and more of that as we move into fall. But right now, happy Labor Day, everybody. And thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this one, please send it to a friend. If you haven't listened to my TEDx talk where I quote Dolly, I will link that in the show notes below. And if you're interested in connecting with us and more of our horse adventure co services, you can also find that link below. All right, adventure on.