What Can Dolly Parton Teach Community Leaders?
Note: This post originally appeared in the Gather Community Consulting Newsletter.
The start of a new year contains multitudes. Each year it brings with it layers of ritual, nostalgia, stress, joy, expectation, connection, and some grief for what was.
For 2020, the new year has brought me home to where my family has lived for generations, to the misty hills of Appalachia and the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. (If you're curious about the region, the Outdoor Project wrote a nice wrapup of the national park with photos.)
This is the land of warm biscuits; the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Shawnee, and many other indigenous nations; Jack Daniel's; pickup trucks; bluegrass; and, last but never least, Dolly Parton.
Growing up, I did not understand Dolly's persona or music. I found her cloyingly sweet. My streak of emo girl rebellion led me to reject her brand of pure joy.
These days, though, I see in her what I need most -- and what I think our world needs most as we close out the 2010s. We often feel isolated and uncertain. The world changes so quickly it could give you whiplash. We are also scared of what is to come as we march toward an uncertain future that seems to speed up daily.
In these times, we need grace, a good belly laugh, space to play, and music that crosses boundaries and cultures. We need Dolly Parton energy.
"A rhinestone shines just as good as a diamond." - Dolly Parton
Dolly is an icon, a symbol of strength. She also reminds us to laugh at ourselves. Her warmth is palpable. She lights up a room, a stage, an entire theme park in Pigeon Forge, TN.
If you're not into Dolly Parton, allow me to introduce you to one prime example of how her work and wisdom guide us in our times. Let's take the song "Two Doors Down" (this live version from London is one of my favorites).
Here's the gist of the song's lyrical story: Dolly, suffering from heartache, sits alone and isolated in her apartment. She cries to herself and suddenly realizes that her neighbors, just two doors down, are partying it up and drinking and hollering. She decides to mosey down the hall and join them. They invite her inside. When she enters the party, her whole outlook changes. She finds she can laugh and sing again, surrounded by friends.
Of course, life is not so simple. Heartache and grief do not go away magically when you go to a party.
But I believe this song is a metaphor for an opportunity we have every single day, and a reminder for how to show up in the world. We have the daily (no, minutely) choice to isolate ourselves in fear or to mosey down and meet our neighbors and friends. And if we don't have neighbors and friends around us, we can become the neighbors who gather others. We can change people's outlooks and turn their days around.
We can become the neighbors who change people's outlooks and turn their days around.
As we enter a new year marked by many major global elections, technological change, and social change, we may brace for what is ahead. We may become rigid and tighten. We may lock ourselves out of connection because we are overwhelmed, grieving, scared, or exhausted.
Or we may create the story that Dolly shares in Two Doors Down: make opportunities for friendship, care, and joy.
As they say, we are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the ones two doors down.
In starting the new year, my wish for you is that you enter boldly but with an open mind. You can't control outcomes, but you can control how you lead and the energy and experiences you bring into the world.
Allow all the good to get in this year. Then spread it around. That's what Dolly would do.
Your friendly neighborhood community builder ⭐
Carrie Melissa Jones
Founder, Gather Community Consulting
In Other News...
How are the Fortune 50 and the top-valued startups investing in TRUE community programs? Read the report here.
Want deeper community-building reflections that cover learnings from 2016-2019? I got you with this Medium post.
