Do Something Productive with the Energy

Dolly Parton has been married to the same man for over fifty years, Carl Dean. She wrote the song Jolene about a woman her husband could not stop talking about. Carl owned his own business and was making a deposit when he encountered Jolene, a new bank teller at the branch. He spoke about her hair, her eyes, her soft voice and her beauty. That interaction inspired Dolly to write this tune:

Your beauty is beyond compare with flaming locks of auburn hair, with ivory skin and eyes of emerald green. Your smile is like a breath of Spring, your voice is soft like summer rain and I cannot compete with you Jolene.

If you read yesterday’s post about the other song she wrote in this twenty-four hour period of time, Dolly Parton was facing a great deal of change and emotion. No wonder her beloved husband raving about a beautiful, new woman hit a chord. She took that emotion and let it out in the iconic country hit. Say the name Jolene, and most people will repeat it four times from the chorus of this song. It has become a name synonymous with emotion, jealousy, with pleading and passion. It was brilliant way to deal with all that was happening in her world, and she gave that gift to her audience for generations to come.

We all have times when we are overcome with what is happening in our world. We feel joy, sadness, uncertainty and even pain with no where to put it all together. We need a productive outlet, somewhere to channel all that is happening inside into an outcome that somehow makes things better. Dolly chose to write two songs, what can you do? Write, paint, clean, run, walk, cook, read, garden, even listen to music inspired by the same turmoil you are experiencing. Somehow letting it out helps us process through and reach a conclusion.

We each have our own place where things land, and that usually involves activity of some sort. It mean thinking it through, letting it out, and reaching a place where the emotion is done and life moves forward. If you find yourself in a place of change or emotional build up, take the route Dolly took. Do something productive with that energy and let that process help you work through it. You will feel better and your efforts may just make a mark for generations to come.