Inspiring Mountain Woman: Dolly Parton

Let me tell you some facts about Dolly Parton:

1. She was the 4th of 12 kids.

2. She grew up dirt poor, in a small one bedroom cabin in the smoky mountains.

3. She always wanted to be a singer and performer, as a little girl she despised working on the farm...and loved performing songs for her younger siblings and playing (often barefoot) in the mountains.

4. She has always had a fascination with glamor and beauty... especially because she was not allowed to wear make-up, and she was too poor to afford it.

5. She is heartfelt, she loves God, the mountains, and nature. In her book, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business, she confesses that she has run naked through the woods in an act of jubilation for God, nature, and her life!

6. She loves being a woman.

7. She is happy, positive, witty, and delightful.

8. She has been married to the same man since 1966... almost 48 years!

9. She has written over 3,000 songs, and continues to write a song every 2 to 3 days. She consciously makes time to sit down and write a new song every birthday. My favorite song of hers is "In My Tennessee Mountain Home".

10. She never leaves the house without being fully "made-up", takes great care in her image and what she presents to the public.

One of my favorite quotes from Dolly Parton is "find out who you are and do it on purpose".

That is a powerful quote from a powerful woman, whom I consider to be one of the best, proper, modern-day, mountain woman out there.

I bought and read a used copy of Dolly's book a few years ago and completely fell in love with this positive and hard-working woman. I loved reading about her happy childhood in the smoky mountains and learning about her grit and determination. It is inspiring to read about someone who had a dream for herself, went after the dream, and achieved it! And for Dolly, her dream of being a glamorous and famous singer song-writer couldn't have been more opposite of the modest and quiet life that she was born into.

Dolly made up her mind at a young age of who she wanted to be and who she is, and has never backed down. She lives every day and every moment of her life with that purpose.

That's why I love the quote above so much... and it's never too late to be the person that you would like to be. I feel like I am constantly discovering how attractive the quality is of being thoughtful, deliberate, and purposeful in your every day actions and every day routines. I firmly believe it's the small things we do every day, like making breakfast, doing your hair and make-up, hanging your clothes up, cleaning out your car... that add up to the person we are.


My theme for the new year is to TAKE CARE. Which, to me, means to do things with purpose. To take care of all the little things I want to do and that I usually don't make time for, and to do a good job.

I feel like I am a good employee at both places where I work, I take care of all my job responsibilities and look to see what else I can do. I do them quick, thorough, and with purpose. Why don't I do that in my personal, every day life? Dolly Parton does.

2014... it's going to be a year that I take more care. That I am not going to be a lazy half-hearted proper mountain woman. I am going to be a purposeful, deliberate proper mountain woman in everything I do and present to the world.

(to read Dolly's book you can buy a used copy on Amazon for a penny, or listen to her read it herself on youtube)