Dolly Parton died this week. And somehow, even though I never met her, the news made me stop. Perhaps that is what happens when someone has been woven into the fabric of the world for so long. Their death feels bigger than the loss of one person. Something shifts. Some deaths rock a family. Some rock a community. Some rock a nation. And every once in a while, someone dies, and it feels as though the whole world rocks just a little. But lately I've been wondering if perhaps ev

You can’t exhale before you have inhaled. It’s impossible. Perhaps that’s why I’ve come to believe the same is true of living. There is something almost sacred about stepping outside, lifting your face toward the warmth of the sun, and closing your eyes for just a moment. It isn’t simply that the sunshine feels nice. It’s an experience. It’s an emotion. It’s a place. A place that quietly reminds us we belong to something much bigger than ourselves. When I walk outside each ev