belonging

For the love of Dolly. A lesson in boundaries.

For the love of Dolly. A lesson in boundaries.

I love Dolly Parton. Like really love her.

I remember seeing her on the Oprah show in the early 2000’s. Dolly talked about the importance of being humble - and the fact that she once lost a Dolly Parton drag competition. And she just laughed. That laugh.

I was completely hooked. You see, I have always loved her music. That twang, the sauciness. I adored 9 to 5 and all of the empowerment around gender equity. However, it was seeing her on the television, in person, just being herself that I realized how unapologetically and unabashedly Dolly she is. In a grounded, loving way – from the core of her being.

It was Dolly who taught – and is still teaching me – about boundaries.

Pulling the Death Card

Pulling the Death Card

New Year’s Day is a ritual day for me. I want to move, to do deep introspection. And usually I pull a card. A tarot card.

Last year on New Year’s Eve I attended a workshop hosted by Michelle Cassandra Johnson. She had this lovely deck, her deck, the Transverse Deck. We all pulled cards from that deck before the practice. I pulled the death card.

Now, before you gasp or think “how appropriate for 2020” – tarot cards aren’t good or bad, but simply a tool. Ask the deck something and use it as a guide to probe deeper.

The death card? Well, that is all about transformation, shedding, grieving, loss. The questions we might ask ourselves is – what do I have to shed? What is no longer serving me? What is it that I have to grieve and let go of in order to move on?