Dolly Parton Optimism

I think Dolly Parton is one amazing woman. (I dressed up like her a few years ago for Halloween, as you can see above. Surprisingly no one knew who I was. I got several Jessica Simpsons, a Pamela Anderson, and ironically someone asked if I was Taylor Swift).

In my opinion, none of those buxom beauties has a thing on Dolly. When someone inquires, "If you could invite 6 people living or dead over for dinner who would you ask?" Dolly is at the top of my list.

First of all, her style is impeccably cheap, and she knows it. The original Backwoods Barbie has a sense of style that is all her own. I love the glitter. I love the big blond hair. I love the bright colors she wears and the fantastically high heels that coordinate perfectly with her too-short dresses.

When I was little, I'd say, "Mom....Dolly is so BEAUTIFUL!" To which my mom would reply, "Oh honey, no! She is TACKY!" So then I'd respond with a huge smile and a sigh, "Yeah...she's so TACKY!"

From then on, I thought the word "tacky" meant "beautiful."

I guess my sense of style was always a little tacky. I had a pair of glittery pink jellies complete with a gigantic metallic bow on each foot. I had an Easter dress with puffy crinoline skirt and jingle bell hidden on the hem. I wore overall shorts with a big old belt, a pink and turquoise turtleneck, and hiking boots. Some of this was the 80s, but some of this was my desire to stand out and be original. Dolly inspires me because she is true to herself and wears what she thinks is beautiful - no matter what anyone else has to say about it.

The second reason I love Dolly is because she has voice as unique as her style. In my humble opinion, her version of "I Will Always Love You" trumps Whitney Houston's any day. She wrote that song, you know. She didn't need a team of songwriters to produce some homogenized hit. She took her experiences and channeled them into pieces of perfectly phrased poetry.

Anyway, the reason I was thinking about Dolly today was because of all this rain we've been having in Greenville lately. One of my favorite things she ever said was, "If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."

There are a lot of people - including me - that have been in a grumpy funk this week. The constant cold downpour has brought with it days of indoor recess and frizzy hair. I haven't felt like working out. I hate having to find an umbrella and despise accidentally stepping in puddles in ballet flats.

But Dolly sees the puddle half full.

Now I know:
Instead of shaking a fist at the heavens and cursing the nimbus clouds above, I should embrace the rain, throw on a pair of hot pink galoshes, and start looking forward to the rainbows.