Driving home Tuesday afternoon, my family text thread lit up, followed shortly by my childhood friend text thread, and then two separate, more personal threads: one with my best friend, and another between me and my daughters. I had to pull over – not just because I wanted to respond to the texts quickly and safely, but also (and maybe more so) because I needed to not hold back the good cry that was welling up.
Dolly Parton had died.
This will be one of those moments in years to come that people remember where they were when they got the news. And this is what felt so yogic about it to me: the unifying experience of being present, together, for something that was at once ineffably shared and deeply personal.
It was personal even for those who were not country music fans; even for those who had no connection to the great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee; even for those who could perhaps not name a single one of her songs. It was personal because Dolly fully embodied – in a notoriously famous body itself – some of our highest human aspirations, and ones that the sacred texts of yoga hold as central to the practice: kindness, generosity, diligence, authenticity, and faithfulness.
And it was unifying because, in the prevailing milieu of ugly discourse that has defiled our public square, Dolly refused to argue, name-call, or provoke. She let her actions speak for themselves. Her devout faith informed her commitment to seeing all humans as worthy of love, and to making sure that those with the greatest need received the most tangible resources she could provide. The only flags she flew were her signature butterfly wings that grace Dollywood, and her signature songbird twang that gave voice to the universals of longing, fear, determination, heartbreak, and forever love.
This is one of the gifts of yoga: the practice of remembering that beneath the divides, we are human together. That our lives are interconnected. That compassion means showing up for others. That the way we live matters. We could call it Parton Pose - let's practice it joyfully, generously, faithfully, like it's a full time job, working 9 to 5.
With love,
Annie Moyer
