Making a Living vs. Making a Life: What Icons Like Dolly Parton and Tim Curry Taught Us

The world just lost two true icons and a massive loss to humanity: Tim Curry and Dolly Parton. I have very distinct memories of both, whether through their singing or acting in some of my favorite movies. Notably, Annie and 9 to 5 were my favorite movies as a kid. But the one thing we can say about these two people is that they didn't just make a living; they made a life for themselves. You could see they were having a good time with how they lived their lives and what they did for a living.

The reason I say this is because of a quote from Dolly Parton: "Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life." She's right, and I say this in every post: Don't forget to make a life, and don't forget to actually live your life. Don't become so focused on making a living that the other two get buried, because that's when burnout sets in. That's when we feel heavy, and we don't heal. Be visible and be real, but don't carry that heavy weight.

That internal void—that empty feeling—comes from within. It comes from accepting your flaws, because everyone is perfectly flawed, and we are all capable of loving ourselves more. We are all capable of giving ourselves more self-compassion, and we do that by building more awareness about ourselves. I am so passionate about awareness now because without it, I would not be the version of myself that I am today. I can think of a lot of people who preferred an older version of me—a version I didn't want to be anymore and that no longer served me.

I had this conversation with somebody today, and we were talking about this exact thing, which is now coming into my blog. Being the version of yourself that allows you to be more real and more loving toward the person you want to become is what's important in this world. Surround yourself with people who fully love the version you want to become, not a subversion that's half there and half not. Make your life so that you enjoy living it and enjoy making a living to support that life. We're only here for a limited time, so let's focus on awareness and acceptance so we can love ourselves more.