And what a beautiful entry point this is for bringing our kids into the conversation. Dolly’s appeal was never limited to one generation, she was a rare gem who captivated both children and adults. Last year, my daughter’s fourth-grade class did individual reports on activists, and out of everyone she could have chosen, she chose Dolly Parton. When I asked her why, she said, “I like her music and she’s a really nice person.” Dolly’s music and her effortlessly warm, loving and self-deprecating demeanor made people feel connected to her, no matter their age.

A diamond doesn’t shine because of one surface, it shines because each facet does its own unique job of refracting light as it flows through. The more facets, the more sparkle, and Dolly Parton had many facets that radiated light around her: creativity, confidence, discipline, generosity, devotion, and authenticity to name a few. That’s a high bar to meet for any person, but each of us can probably find at least one facet that resonates most with us and put our energy there. If we do, part of her magic stays here with us, even though she no longer is. Here are some of the things I admired most about her, and I hope they spark something for you as well:

Spirituality

Maybe this is an unexpected attribute to list first, but I see it as the light that shines through every other part of her life. Dolly described herself this way: “I’m not that religious, but I’m very, very spiritual.” She grew up around her grandfather’s Pentecostal preaching, but as an adult she stepped back from organized religion while holding onto something she called a direct, personal relationship with God. “Every single day, before I do anything,” she said, “I wake up and I thank God for the night and ask him to bless the day... and guide me, lead me.” That simple, direct connection to Source feels deeply aligned with my own spirituality, I think it offered a point of connection for many others as well. If you don’t feel aligned with anything that follows here, couldn’t we all take a moment to feel connected to something greater than ourselves? If it’s not God for you, maybe it’s the Earth, the light of the Sun, or the love you have for another person.

Creative Talent

Just as Dolly asked God to work through her, she let creativity flow through her. She’s told the story of writing both Jolene and I Will Always Love You in the same day. “Songwriting is my way of channeling my feelings and my thoughts. Not just mine, but the things I see, the people I care about. My head would explode if I didn’t get some of that stuff out.” Creativity was a life force energy for her, and through it she found meaning in the mundane parts of life. Dolly was the epitome of Everyday Magic. A handmade coat of rags became a reflection on personal pride in the face of poverty. A frustrating office job became a manifesto on self-worth in a capitalist society. And the lyric “9 to 5, for service and devotion” illuminates two words that were core to her character. Dolly played at least eight instruments, including guitar, fiddle, banjo, harp, piano and saxophone, but she drew inspiration from everything around her. She created the opening beat for 9 to 5 by strumming her long acrylic nails together! So even if you don’t consider yourself an artist, can you expand your definition of creativity and let it flow through you? Bake banana bread or arrange some flowers for your table, have a dance party in your living room or write a lovely thank you note to a friend.

Business Acumen

Dolly famously said, “Find out who you are and do it on purpose,” and she achieved incredible business success because she endeavored in areas that were both personal and purposeful. She knew that her words were her magic, and therefore declined to sell the rights to I Will Always Love You to Elvis’s manager when he asked for half the publishing. It was a decision so difficult she cried all night, knowing the pain in the moment was worth the potential, and that choice literally paid off for the rest of her life. Although she became an international celebrity, Dolly always carried her hometown in her heart. Dollywood was never just a theme park to her, it was a way to create jobs for the people in her home county and put Appalachian music, craft, and culture on a stage the world could see. Her success shows us that when we work towards what matters to us, we’re motivated to do it well, and it feels much less like work at all.

Charitable Work

Dolly’s giving was deeply personal, not performative. She launched the Imagination Library in 1995 in honor of her father, who never learned to read or write. That program has now mailed more than 330 million free books to children across five countries. Dolly never had children of her own, but the way she spoke about that says everything about her. “God didn’t mean for me to have kids,” she said, “so everybody’s kids could be mine.” When wildfires and hurricanes devastated her home state, she gave millions of her own money to support local families, saying simply, “These are my mountains, these are my valleys... these are my people, and this is my home.” Dolly cared about home, family and children. This is a perfect topic for a family discussion - what do we care most about as individuals and as a family? How are we showing up in service to the things we care about? Small tangible acts like doing a park clean up or making sandwiches for a food pantry empower kids to feel like they can make a difference.

Power Through Purpose

This piece of Dolly’s legacy feels so important to me as a woman and a mother of a daughter. She had many kinds of power: fame, wealth and cultural reach; yet she didn’t want to hold it all for herself. She let her influence flow through her as she collaborated with and mentored other female artists, drawing attention to their talent. “If I’m not a good example of a woman in power, I don’t know who is,” she once said. “I’m out there just promoting mankind, but I am most definitely going to get behind those gals.” Her version of strength was about clearing a path so more people could come through behind her, building businesses that employed her neighbors and funding scholarships for students in her home county. Dolly was fiercely aware of her talent and strength, but when people mocked her she was famous for diffusing it with humor. She didn’t feel the need to take down those who tried to diminish her, she let her luminosity speak for itself. In a moment when we see powerful people on the world stage accumulating ever more wealth and power through domination, Dolly’s example feels like a salve. Power can be both strong and gentle, and power isn’t diminished when you bring others into the fold.

So maybe the way to honor Dolly isn’t only a moment of silence or a replaying of her music. Maybe it’s picking one facet and letting it catch the light through us. Dolly was cut with more facets than most of us will ever have, but none of us needs all of them. We just need one, angled toward the light, doing its part. If each of us refracts a single element of who she was, her light doesn’t go out. It shines into more places, sparkling on in a thousand ways.

With Love & Magic,

Heather

*Title paraphrased from Dolly’s quote, “It’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.”

Go Outside and Touch Grass

Telling someone to “touch grass” became a popular response on social media to call out a person who spent so much time online that they became angry, agitated, or detached from reality. Touching grass brings you back to the present moment. It is actually a genuine wellness practice with scientific evidence to prove its benefits, and one I use every day.

You probably remember from high school Chemistry class that atoms don’t like being unbalanced. If an atom is missing an electron, it will pull one from wherever it’s accessible to come back to balance. That’s exactly what happens in our bodies when we’re stressed, anxious, wired or spending too much time staring at screens. We produce more “free radicals” (molecules that are missing an electron) and to rebalance themselves, they grab electrons from our healthy cells instead. That constant borrowing is part of what keeps a stressed nervous system stuck in overdrive.

Here’s where the magic of the Earth comes in. The ground beneath us holds an essentially endless supply of loose electrons. These electrons come from absorbing lightning strikes that are almost always present somewhere around the globe, which I find rather magical. The practice of “grounding” is simply making direct contact between your body and the earth (grass, dirt and sand are best – no shoes!), allowing some of those electrons move into your body and get absorbed by the free radicals that were pulling from your cells. If you make this a daily ritual, studies have measured reduced cortisol in people who ground regularly.

Scientific studies aside, I just know that when I put my bare feet on grass or sand, I feel more settled and relaxed. When my kids are cranky or overly excited, stepping outside helps them reset. This summer, social media has romanticized “90’s summers,” which included running barefoot in the yard, lying on the grass looking for four leaf clovers or sitting with your back against a tree reading a book. Maybe we were on to something back then, and we’re looking to recapture that grounded feeling.

Grounding Through the Body

Grounding outdoors feels amazing, but it’s not always accessible, and it doesn’t have to be. In somatic nervous-system work, “grounding” refers to practices that bring your attention into your body and its connection to the ground beneath you, helping the nervous system shift out of stress and into safety. Here are a few of my favorites:

Yoga poses. Child’s Pose, Warrior, and Mountain Pose are all considered grounding postures because they invite you to feel your connection to the earth through your hands, feet, or head. When you hold them for just a few breaths, focusing your attention downwards to where your body can release and be held by the ground, your nervous system registers safety. These are a great way to start your morning or as a reset between meetings or activities throughout your day.

Breathwork. Techniques in which you exhale longer than you inhale can provide stress relief for hours afterwards. My favorite is 4-7-8 breathing. Breathe in through your nose for 4 counts. Then hold your breath for 7 counts (during this time I like to envision gathering all my thoughts together like I’m catching them with a net). Then, exhale out of your mouth for 8 seconds or more, imaging your stress or racing thoughts floating down to the ground.

Feet on the floor. Simply press your feet into the ground, wiggle your toes, and feel the surface beneath you. Remind yourself that you are always supported and held by the Earth. It sounds too simple to matter, but this tiny act of attention pulls you out of your thoughts and back into your body. You can use it even in a conference room full of people and your kids can use this strategy in the classroom…it’s very helpful during tests.

The Energetic Practice: A Grounding Cord

There’s a third concept of grounding, called a grounding cord meditation, which has connections to Reiki and other energy healing traditions that recognize a subtle, energetic connection between our bodies and the Earth. Here’s how it works:

Sit comfortably with your spine upright and your feet flat on the floor. Take a few slow breaths to settle. Then, in your mind’s eye, imagine a cord of energy extending down from the base of your spine, through the floor, through the layers of the earth, all the way to its center. You can picture it however feels right to you: as a tree root, a rope or a beam of light. Once you feel that connection anchored, breathe in and imagine drawing steady, stabilizing earth energy up through the cord and into your body. Then, on your exhale, imagine releasing whatever you’re carrying; tension, a hard conversation, someone else’s energy or your to-do list, down through the cord, where the Earth absorbs and neutralizes it.

The visualization aspect of this practice really helps me when my thoughts are racing, and I find it so helpful for kids as well, to imagine their body like a tree trunk with roots reaching into the ground. My daughter likes to sit next to me and do this practice together, so we get the added benefit of connection and co-regulation.

The Everyday Magic of Grounding

People often tell me I have a very grounded energy, and that may be because I actually practice grounding, in all three of these forms, on a regular basis. Yes, it helps me regulate my nervous system, but that’s not the only reason why I keep up with the practice. I find so much peace and beauty in the reminder that we’re all part of something much larger than ourselves. That the Earth is always there, holding and supporting me, holding and supporting all of us. Taking a few minutes to put my feet in the grass, let my body relax against the floor, or imagine a cord of light connecting me to the center of it all, is Everyday Magic.

I’d love to hear which of these you already practice, or which ones you’re curious to try.

With Love & Magic,

Heather

This was the thesis we arrived at as my dear friend and I lingered over a long dinner conversation. We’ve been friends for thirty years, but we live across the country from each other, so every visit is a deep dive. That night we talked about careers, parenting, marriage, aging parents, and how some weeks are so busy they can feel like we’re just running through a checklist to make sure it all gets done. We were reminded that we want to be more present for these moments, to feel more alive within them. Since then, I keep thinking about how.

In a world where AI dominates the headlines and parents everywhere are asking how we prepare our children for a future none of us can picture, I think this idea of aliveness matters more than ever. Technology will never replace our ability to feel our emotions, to connect from the heart, or demonstrate empathy and morality. When I coach parents, I always ask them to consider the why behind their parenting decisions. Why is this important to you? What value or goal does it serve? I think the guiding question, “Is this helping my child live a fully alive life?” points to an important value that I’d like to explore here.

Why “Everyday Magic”?

I’ve used the term “Everyday Magic” since my son, now fifteen, was a baby. At the time we lived in Brooklyn Heights, a quaint, historic neighborhood just across the river from Manhattan, with sweeping views of the city and harbor, well-kept brownstones, peaceful parks, and mature trees. In those early days of motherhood, the phase when you deeply love bonding with your new baby and you’re overwhelmed from being home alone for long hours every day, cycling endlessly through eating, soothing, and sleeping, leaving the house for twenty minutes felt like an adventure. In that short time I could take in the view of the river or duck into a charming coffee shop for a cup of tea. I called these small escapes “Everyday Magic.” I felt lucky to live somewhere I always had something beautiful to look at, something tasty to eat, someone to trade pleasantries with on the street. I thought the Magic was in the place, but that was only the surface.

Years later, in the middle of the pandemic, we moved our family to Los Angeles, a city where I barely knew a soul and a time when isolation was pronounced. Once again, I was home with my children, whom I love deeply, for long hours every day, and now we were staring at screens much of the time. I felt a yearning to find my new version of Everyday Magic. In true pandemic fashion, I stumbled upon an online manifestation program, promising to help me figure out what I wanted in life and how to make it happen. Through extensive meditating and journaling, I created my “code” of core values, and the clear word at the top was connection. Connection to self, connection to family, friends, and community, connection to nature, connection to Source. Everyday Magic was never a place or an activity, it was the feeling those places and activities elicited within me. It was the vehicle through which I could connect to the Magic in and around me.

Everyday Magic in Action

As restrictions lifted, I discovered a hiking trail a mile from my kids’ school, and I started hiking it every morning after drop-off. Up there, the sky feels bigger; the trees and the view of the valley make me feel relaxed and more open-minded. Other parents noticed my daily habit, and I’d always ask if they wanted to join me. Many of them did, and on those days I had an hour to talk with them and form the connections I’d been missing. Other days it was just me and the mountain. I could feel my own expansion; I was building connection and rediscovering Everyday Magic.

I became endlessly curious about how we connect to our own energy (you might call this Soul, Spirit, or Higher Self), how we connect meaningfully with other people, and how we connect with something larger than ourselves (for you this might be nature, Mother Earth, The Universe, Source, or God). This desire for connection led me to become a certified parent coach and a sacred circle facilitator, doing work that allows me to connect one-on-one with parents and with groups of women. This curiosity led me to work with an amazing therapist, to study astrology, somatics, meditation, and Reiki, with a long list of modalities still to explore, all of which I want to explore with you here.

To me, Everyday Magic is all the ways we connect within ourselves and beyond ourselves. It’s about noticing the beauty of life and the small pleasures that are easy to overlook. However, it isn’t only the “positive” moments — a good cry is Magic too. There is Magic in the mundane, like a breath practice that regulates your nervous system. Everyday Magic is learning to be present enough to savor the sweet moments, and regulated enough to feel through the hard moments, instead of pushing them away or checking out.

These, I believe, are the keys to living more alive within our own lives. These are skills our children will need for the future, no matter the direction that AI takes us. And as with everything in parenting, we can only teach our children what we ourselves know. So we have to cultivate these skills first, if we want to pass them on.

That’s what I’ll be exploring here. I’d love for you to join me.

With Love & Magic,

Heather