Radical Resilience Part 4: The Art of Thriving in a Fragile World

Welcome to the last two posts in the exploration of radical resilience. I have put them together because each assists the other.

Consider Thriving

Consider thriving.  It means to come alive regardless of the circumstances or environment.  Dolly Parton was an amazing example of thriving despite the circumstances.

She was born into extreme poverty in a tiny one-room cabin in rural Sevier County, Tennessee. Dolly was the fourth of twelve children born to a sharecropper father and a homemaker mother. Her family lived without electricity or running water, and she famously described her upbringing as "dirt poor", noting that her parents once paid the doctor who delivered her with a sack of cornmeal. 

The children shared beds and wore clothes made from scrap fabric and feed sacks. Despite having very little material wealth, Parton has often spoken fondly of her childhood, describing her family as rich in love, faith, and music. Her experiences with poverty and her father's inability to read later inspired major philanthropic efforts, including her famous Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. 

Circumstances in Life Should Not Stop Anyone

In short, the circumstances of her life did not stop her; instead, they sparked an intense desire to do good in the world. She never let poverty define her; instead, she rose above it while remembering what “art” called to her heart: music. 

Today our world is horribly broken and fragile. The dictionary defines fragile as delicate and easily broken if not handled with care. Wars, natural disasters, poverty, power held in the hands of a few, and a growing income disparity all point to the ways in which individuals can feel broken and helpless. Even our natural world is fragile, with destruction caused by environmental abuse.

And yet… and yet… as Dolly Parton demonstrated… if you find what calls your heart (as music called her) you can rise above circumstances. Radical resilience is NOT bouncing back but growing through to become better, wiser, and more comfortable in your own skin. Not easy, not overnight. But doable. 

Consider these Dolly Parton sayings.

“If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” 

"If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”

“Storms make trees take deeper roots.”

“Dreams are of no value if they’re not equipped with wings!”

“You can wish your life away. But if you’re going to dream, you’re going to have to get out and, like I always say, you have to put some wings on them dreams, and some feet and fingers and some hands. They gotta get into some stuff. You can’t just sit around and think of all the things you want to do. You’ve got to think of what you want to do, and then you’ve got to get out and make that happen.”

Thanks, Dolly. My new password is: wwdd “What would Dolly do?”