MISS MALAWI HAD A WINNER. SO WHY DID SOMEONE ELSE GET THE DREAM? 👀

A crown, a runner-up, a minister’s daughter and a Miss World opportunity that somehow ended up somewhere nobody expected.

[Photo: Miss Malawi 2025 / Nation Online. Thandi Chisi, Ireen Navicha and Tina Nkombezi following the Miss Malawi 2025 results.]

Imagine winning a national pageant and then watching somebody else get the international opportunity you thought came with your crown.

Yeah.

That is basically where this story gets interesting.

Because in December 2025, Thandi Chisi, 26, stood on a stage in Malawi and became Miss Malawi. She had made it through the competition, beaten the other finalists and got the crown. The girl had won. Full stop.

And standing behind her as first runner-up was Ireen Navicha.

Ireen wasn't some random woman who suddenly appeared from the bushes when Miss World came around. She had her own pageant experience, including international competitions, and she was clearly a serious contestant. But there was one other detail about Ireen that would later make this whole story considerably more interesting: her mother is Mary Navicha, Malawi's Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare.

Now, ordinarily, that would just be a family fact.

But then Miss World happened.

Or, more accurately, Thandi's Miss World opportunity didn't happen.

Instead of sending the reigning Miss Malawi, the organisation selected her first runner-up, Ireen Navicha, to represent Malawi at Miss World 2026.

[Photo: Miss World Organisation. Ireen Navicha representing Malawi at Miss World 2026.]

And I remember thinking: Wait. What happened to the winner? Because isn't that usually the point?

You enter Miss Malawi. You compete. You win Miss Malawi. You represent Malawi internationally.

Simple.

Except apparently we had entered Pageant: Director's Cut, because suddenly there were explanations.

First, there was the age in question. Thandi had turned 27, and age was given as one of the reasons she wasn't selected. Except Miss World had contestants around that age, including South Africa's Romanda Hombir, who was also 27 and eventually made the Top 6.

Hmm.🤔

Then another explanation came into the picture: international experience. Ireen had it. Thandi didn't have the same level of international pageant experience, and organisers said they believed Ireen was better prepared for the international stage.

So basically, the argument was about that, and somehow that became a reason to choose her over Thandi. But honestly, that logic doesn’t sit right with me. How is someone supposed to gain international experience if you never give them the opportunity to represent their own country internationally in the first place? Experience has to start somewhere you know, and Thandi being the woman who actually won Miss Malawi should have been given the preparation, training and chance to prove herself on that stage too. Otherwise, what are we really saying — that you need experience to get the experience? 😭

[Photo: Miss Malawi 2025;Thandi Chisi.]

As the explanation changes, people start doing what people do best on the internet: investigating. 🔎 And this is where I have to admit something. My eyebrows started living permanently above my forehead.😲

Because look at the picture: the reigning Miss Malawi wins the national competition. Her first runner-up is selected instead for Miss World. The runner-up happens to be the daughter of a sitting government minister. Then the public hears different explanations about why the winner wasn't chosen.

Am I saying the minister personally pulled strings?

No.

Am I saying I know what happened behind closed doors?

Absolutely not.

But do I find the situation suspicious?

Girl.

Please.

I'd have to be asleep.

This is also where the whole Nepo Baby conversation comes knocking.

[1st runner up; Ireen Navicha]

Because nepotism isn't only about somebody literally picking up the phone and saying, “Give my child the job.” Sometimes it's about the uncomfortable advantage that comes from being born into the right family, having the right connections, or simply being close to people with power.

And here's the thing: Ireen could be completely deserving. She could have worked her behind off. Her previous pageant experience could genuinely have made her the better choice for Miss World.

Both things can be true.

But when you're the person who won, and the person who gets the opportunity you expected is the daughter of a powerful government official, people are naturally going to ask questions. I'll definitely put you on my suspicious list.😑

And Thandi?

[Photo: Miss Malawi 2025 event coverage. Thandi Chisi celebrating her reign as Miss Malawi 2025.]

That's the part that bothers me most. Imagine being 26, competing for your country's biggest pageant title, winning it, making plans, carrying that crown — only to discover that when the international opportunity arrives, you're not the one going. How do you even process that? Because I’d be somewhere investigating like my crown had been stolen: rulebook, contract, meeting minutes, CCTV footage — EVERYTHING. 😭 At some point I’d probably be asking, “Who was in the room? Who knew? Who approved this? And can somebody please get Jesus?” 😂

And maybe there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything.

Thandi eventually watched from the sidelines while Ireen represented Malawi at Miss World 2026 in Vietnam, making the Top 40 but not advancing to the Top 20.

And honestly, that’s what makes this whole thing even more disappointing.

 Because who knows what Thandi could have done if she had been allowed to take the opportunity she had already won

Maybe she would have made the Top 10. Maybe she would have gone further. Maybe she could have won the whole thing and put Malawi at the centre of the Miss World conversation for all the right reasons.

 Instead, we got politics, controversy and enough unanswered questions to make you sit back and stare at the wall for five minutes. Again, I’m not accusing anyone. But I do know one thing: if this pageant were a dog, by now I’d be telling it to sit, stay and explain itself. 👀

© 2026 The Dreamer’s Pause. All rights reserved.

THE INTERNET HAS TOO MANY DAMN ADS — AND I’M TIRED 😭

Our Attention Is Not Free

There was a time when I could open YouTube, choose a video, sit back and actually watch it. Imagine that. 😭 You clicked on a documentary, a music video, an interview, a random two-hour movie uploaded by someone with questionable copyright decisions, and you knew there might be an advertisement somewhere along the way. Fair enough. Businesses have to make money, creators have to make money, and apparently we all have to be reminded that SHEIN has another sale.

But these days? The advertisements have become part of the main event.

And I genuinely want to know: when did we decide this was normal?

I'm not talking about one advertisement before a video. That's been around forever. I'm talking about watching something on YouTube and getting interrupted again and again. You're 15 minutes into a documentary, completely invested in whatever story you're watching, and suddenly somebody wants to sell you something. You continue watching, get comfortable again, and there it is—another advertisement.

Now you're not watching a documentary. You're watching a documentary with regular commercial breaks that you didn't ask for.

And before anyone says, “Well, just pay for Premium,” that's exactly what makes this whole thing feel strange. Because YouTube already earns money from the enormous amount of attention people give it. We spend hours there. We watch, search, like, comment, subscribe and share. We use our Wi-Fi and our mobile data to do it. Our attention is valuable, our behaviour is valuable and advertising is built around that value.

So sometimes it feels like we're being told: “Thank you for giving us your attention. Now would you like to pay us extra so we interrupt you less?”

😂

And yes, I understand that creators can have some control over where advertisements appear in their videos, including manually placing mid-roll ad slots, while YouTube can also automatically place them. So it's not as simple as blaming the person who uploaded the video. The whole system has become much bigger than that.

Then there is Facebook.

You're currently watching a video, actually enjoying it, following the story, and then—BOOM. Advertisement.

Fine. You either get the little “Skip” button, or you have to sit there and wait for the whole thing to finish. Eventually, your video comes back and you continue watching. A few minutes pass. Maybe 30 seconds. Maybe one minute. And then—ANOTHER AD.

At this point, I'm looking at my screen like, “Who did I offend?” 😭

You skip it if you can. If you can't, you sit there and wait again. Then the video comes back. You continue. And if the video is long enough, guess what?

Another advertisement.

Two or three interruptions in ONE video? Sometimes even more? That's not a video anymore. That's an advertisement with a little bit of entertainment in between.

And the sickening part is that I get angry every single time. I despise it. I complain to myself, I roll my eyes, I threaten to leave Facebook forever...

And then I go back.

Why?

Because I'm a procrastinator. 😭

Apparently, my hatred for advertisements is not stronger than my desire to avoid whatever I was supposed to be doing in the first place.

Then there's TikTok. Sometimes you're scrolling, an ad appears, and you think, Okay, let me just swipe past this.

Except suddenly your innocent little swipe has launched you into the advertiser's app.

No.

I was trying to leave.

I did not suddenly wake up and decide I needed SHEIN.

I didn't ask to be transported to a catalogue containing approximately 74,000 dresses, phone cases, shoes and things I never knew existed. 😭

And I know I can close the app. I know I can swipe. I know I can pay for certain services. That's not the point.

The point is that advertising is becoming increasingly difficult to escape. And I'm starting to wonder what the end goal is. How much is enough? How many advertisements can you put in front of a person before the experience itself becomes unbearable?

Because there has to be a balance.

I don't think advertisements should disappear. They support businesses, creators, websites and free services. But perhaps there should be some reasonable limits on how frequently they can interrupt certain types of content. Maybe users deserve more control over how aggressively they're advertised to. Because we are already giving these platforms something incredibly valuable: our time. And time is something you can't refund.

You can give me back R10. You can give me back R100. But you can't give me back the hour I spent watching advertisements instead of the thing I actually came there to watch. That is what bothers me most.

The internet was supposed to give us more choices, more access and more freedom. Instead, I'm beginning to feel like I need a negotiation strategy just to watch a video without being interrupted. And perhaps I'm being dramatic.

Maybe.🤷🏿

But I'm definitely not the only person who has thought, “Oh, COME ON!” when an advertisement appears for the fourth time during something I'm watching.

So here's my question for The Dreamer's Pause this Monday:

At what point does advertising stop being advertising and start becoming an invasion of our attention? Because our data already has value. Our clicks have value. Our views have value. Our engagement has value. Our time has value. Surely we deserve some respect for what we're already giving these platforms.

Otherwise, what's next?

An advertisement when we unlock our phones?

“Welcome back! Before you can check your messages, please watch this 30-second promotion for laundry detergent.”

😭

Please. Let's not give them ideas.

Disclaimer: Images used on this blog are for illustrative purposes only and remain the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.

© 2026 The Dreamer’s Pause. All rights reserved.

ARE WE WATCHING OUR LEGENDS WORK THEMSELVES TO DEATH? 😳

Okay, somebody needs to explain something to me.

Why are some of our legendary singers still working like they have a mortgage on the moon? 😭

I'm serious.

We are watching people who have already given us decades of music continue touring, performing and travelling when sometimes their bodies are clearly saying, “Please. We have done enough.” And every time someone says, “Maybe it's time to retire,” the response is usually:

“The stage is my life.”

Amazing!

But what if that's not the only reason?

I'm not accusing anybody. I don't have access to their contracts, bank accounts, lawyers or dressing rooms. 😂 These are simply my seven reasonable suspects for why some legends might continue working when perhaps their bodies need something very different.

1. Maybe They Simply Can't Imagine Retirement

Let's start with the obvious one.

Some artists genuinely LOVE performing.

If you've been singing since you were a teenager, spent your entire adult life onstage and built your identity around music, retirement might feel less like a holiday and more like somebody took your entire personality away.

So when an artist says, “The stage is my life,” maybe they actually mean it.

And honestly? Fair enough.

But then there are those performances where you're watching from home thinking, “Baby, your stage needs a sofa.”

2. Maybe They Need the Money

We assume that because someone sold five million records, they're automatically financially comfortable forever.

Not necessarily.

Artists can have huge expenses, complicated finances, debts, taxes, managers, lawyers, entourages, businesses and investments that don't work out.

We've seen famous musicians who made enormous amounts of money later reveal that they were struggling financially.

So maybe some artists aren't working because they desperately need applause.

Maybe they just need the cheque.😬

3. Maybe There Are Still Contractual Obligations

What if an artist still owes albums?

Tours? Appearances? Recordings? Other commitments?

Music contracts can be complicated, and sometimes what the public thinks an artist has completed isn't necessarily what the contract says they've completed.

Whitney Houston is the example that always comes to my mind. She had enormous recording commitments with Arista, including the famous 2001 deal that was reported at around $100 million.

So when we look at Whitney's later years, when she was struggling physically and vocally but still working, I can't help wondering whether contractual obligations were part of the picture.

4. Maybe Something Wasn't Completed When It Was Supposed to Be

This is different from simply owing something.

What if an album was delayed?

A project was postponed?

A recording wasn't delivered?

A commitment was carried forward?

A contract that should have ended years earlier somehow remained unfinished?

That's my fourth suspect.

Because sometimes the clock keeps moving even when the paperwork doesn't.

And imagine signing something when you're 25, thinking, “I'll deal with this now and move on.”

Then suddenly you're 55.

And the contract is still sitting there like:

“Hello. Remember me?” 😭

5. Maybe Delays Actually Keep the Relationship Going

This is the one that really makes my conspiracy eyebrow rise. 😂

What if, in certain situations, repeated delays, postponed projects or extended arrangements can keep an artist tied to a company for much longer than originally expected?🤨

I have no evidence for that.

But great artists are valuable. Their names are valuable. Their catalogues are valuable. Their old music continues making money through streaming, licensing, compilations, reissues and sales.

So naturally I wonder whether there could be situations where keeping a successful artist connected to a company is financially beneficial.

Why would anybody willingly let go of an asset that still makes money?🤷🏿

6. Maybe Management and Business Pressure Are Bigger Than We See

And this is where “Just quit!” becomes much easier to say from the outside.

Imagine being surrounded by managers, promoters, agents, accountants, lawyers, business partners and other people whose livelihoods are connected to your career. 

The artist might say, “I'm tired.”

Someone else might say, “But we have three shows.”

Another person says, “The cancellation will cost us.”

Someone else says, “The contract says…”

And suddenly the person holding the microphone is also carrying an entire business operation on their back.

We see the singer.

We don't see the machine around the singer.😕

7. Maybe They Are Trying to Finish What They Started

And finally, maybe some of these legends simply feel they have unfinished business.

An album.

A tour.

A promise to fans.

A final project.

A contract.

Or simply the belief that they aren't ready to walk away yet. And honestly, this is why I don't think we should scream “RETIRE!” every time an older singer struggles. But if there really are financial or contractual problems behind the scenes, then “just get a lawyer” isn't some magical solution either. The music industry is an enormous business, and artists can be dealing with people and companies with far more money, influence, lawyers and resources than they have. Walking away from a contract isn't always as simple as saying, “I quit.” And that's precisely why I keep thinking about Whitney.

She was one of the most valuable voices in the world, and even when her health, personal life and voice were deteriorating, the machine around her didn't simply disappear.

Maybe she wanted to continue. (False!)

Maybe there were obligations.

Maybe there were financial considerations.

I'm saying that when I see legends like Gladys Knight, Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey, Patti LaBelle, Dionne Warwick and others continuing to work while visibly showing the effects of age, I firmly believe there's more to the story. And if there isn't?

Then please, legends…

Go home. 😭

Eat with your family. Watch television. Take a walk. Sleep for twelve hours. Play with the grandchildren. Do absolutely nothing for a while.

Because no contract, tour, album, cheque or catalogue is worth watching somebody destroy the little time they have left.

© 2026 The Dreamer’s Pause. All rights reserved.

I DREAMED SHE HAD CANCER… THEN SHE DISAPPEARED FROM MY WHATSAPP

Maybe I Should Have Kept That Dream to Myself

There are some dreams you wake up from and forget almost immediately.

You open your eyes, stare at the ceiling for a few seconds, and then your brain says, Okay, moving on.

And then there are those dreams that refuse to leave.

You go about your day. You eat. You scroll through your phone. You talk to people. You laugh. You do normal human things.

And then suddenly—

the dream.

Back in your head.

That happened to me.

And honestly, I still don't know what to make of it.

Was it just a dream? Was it symbolic? Was it some kind of warning? Was it my subconscious doing what it does best—creating absolute nonsense while I'm peacefully sleeping?

I genuinely don't know.

But I do know that this particular dream bothered me enough that I eventually contacted the person I dreamed about.

And then, months later, I stopped seeing her on WhatsApp.

Yeah.

Let's go back. ⏭️

There was a woman whose number had been sitting in my phone for quite some time. We weren't friends. We weren't close. We weren't secretly having long conversations every night. Nothing like that.

Our families had known each other for years, so I knew of her and her family, and she knew of mine.

The funny part is that I originally had her number for something completely unrelated to what would happen later.

At the time, I was interested in basketball.

Very interested.

I had convinced myself that basketball was about to become my new thing. 😂

So this woman gave me the number of another woman who was involved with a basketball team.

And let me tell you, I was READY.

I messaged the basketball coach and asked about joining. She gave me some information, and naturally, my next question was:

“Okay, where do you guys practise?”

Simple question, right?

Apparently not.

She didn't give me the address.

So I asked again.

Nothing.

I asked a third time because, in my mind, Maybe she didn't see the first two messages.

Still nothing.

And that was basically the end of my basketball era before it even began. 😭

But I kept the original woman's number.

Years passed.

I didn't really see her in person anymore. We weren't talking. I wasn't thinking about her. Every now and then, I'd see her WhatsApp Status, and that was pretty much the extent of our connection.

And when I say she posted regularly, she posted regularly.

Family. Friends. Outings. Achievements. Her children. Her husband. Her career. Qualifications. Degrees. Just… life.

And honestly, she seemed happy.

She seemed to have the kind of life many people pray for.

Then one night, completely out of nowhere, she appeared in my dream.

In the dream, I was at a huge party. There were so many people around, including people I knew from church. It was one of those busy, crowded dreams where everyone seems to know everyone.

Eventually, the party ended.

It was nighttime, and everyone was getting ready to leave. I remember us being outside and preparing to cross the road to get into a car.

And then she appeared.

She came over and greeted my parents.

Everyone was happy to see her.

Everything felt normal.

Until she told my parents that she had cancer.

I remember it feeling like breast cancer.

The strange thing is, I don't remember her clearly saying, “I have breast cancer.”

I just somehow knew.

You know how dreams are?

Nobody explains anything, but somehow your brain gives you the information anyway.

Then I woke up.

And immediately, something felt wrong.

Not “Oh wow, weird dream.”

No.

I was genuinely uncomfortable.

I tried to dismiss it because, obviously, dreams can be completely ridiculous. I've had dreams about people, places and situations that made absolutely no sense once I woke up.

But this one stayed.

The next day, I thought about it.

Then the day after that.

Sometimes I'd forget about it, and then it would suddenly come back into my mind.

Eventually, I started thinking, What if I'm supposed to tell her?

And that's where things became complicated.

I told my parents about the dream. They suggested that I wait a little.

But I couldn't shake the feeling.

I kept asking myself the same question:

Why me?

Why would I dream about someone I hadn't properly seen or spoken to in years?

Why wouldn't someone close to her dream it?

Her husband?

Her family?

Her friends?

Someone who actually sees her every day?

Why me—the random person whose number was still sitting in her phone because of a basketball connection from years ago?

😭

And because of my beliefs, I started worrying that maybe I was supposed to say something.

So eventually, I messaged her.

I was extremely careful with my words.

I didn't tell her, “You're going to get cancer.”

Who am I to say that?

I told her about the dream and explained that I didn't know what it meant. I even suggested that she could pray about it or speak to her pastor if she wanted to.

Then I sent the message.

And immediately went to sleep.

Because apparently, stressing myself out and then sleeping was my brilliant plan.

The next day, I saw that she had replied.

And I was terrified to open it.

I waited almost the entire day.

I kept thinking, What if she's angry? What if she thinks I'm crazy? What if she thinks I'm trying to scare her?

Eventually, that night, I opened the message.

She wasn't angry.

She thanked me for telling her and started speaking positively over herself, basically rejecting the possibility of it happening.

And honestly?

All I could say was:

Amen. Amen. And Amen.

After that, I felt a little better.

Life continued.

Days became weeks.

Weeks became months.

And then I noticed something.

I wasn't seeing her WhatsApp Status anymore.

At first, I thought maybe she just wasn't posting.

But this was unusual because she used to post quite often.

Then my mind started doing what anxious minds do best:

Did she hide her Status from me?

Did she block me?

Did she change her privacy settings?

Did she stop posting because of what I told her?

I don't know.

And that's the part that still bothers me.

I eventually deleted her number because I couldn't keep staring at the situation and wondering what she thought about me.

Sometimes I regret telling her.

Maybe I should have prayed more first.

Maybe I should have asked for discernment.

Maybe “cancer” wasn't literal at all. Maybe it represented something completely different.

Maybe the dream meant something.

Maybe it meant absolutely nothing.

And then another part of me says:

Girl, you literally just told somebody about a dream you had.

You didn't curse her. You didn't wish cancer on her. You didn't tell her she was going to die. You were scared, confused and trying to do what you believed was right.

But what if she interpreted it differently?

Maybe she thought I was jealous of her life.

Maybe she thought I was trying to destroy something good.

Maybe she thought I was some strange person watching her from a distance.

Maybe she even thought—

I'm a witch.

😭

For the record, I am not.

But how do you prove you're not a witch when you're the person randomly appearing in someone's messages telling them you dreamed they had cancer?

Exactly.

You don't.

And that's why this story still sits somewhere in the back of my mind.

So now I'm curious about you.🫵🏿

Have you ever dreamed something about someone that felt too specific to ignore?

Did you tell them?

Did you keep quiet?

And if you told them, what happened afterwards?

Because maybe I'm not the only one who has ever found themselves sitting somewhere, staring at their phone, wondering:

“Did I just do the right thing… or did I make everything worse?”

© 2026 The Dreamer’s Pause. All rights reserved.

DOLLY PARTON REALLY SAID, “IF I’M GOING, EVERYBODY’S COMING WITH ME.” 😭 — WHY IS EVERYBODY DYING?!

First of all… hello. 👋🏿

Yes, I know. It has been over five months since I wrote anything on this blog.

And before anybody gets excited, let me make one thing very clear: I am not promising consistency again. 😂

The last time I promised that, I basically said that 2027 was going to be my year of consistency. Then, after waiting more than two years to finally get a job, I actually got one—and suddenly my blog disappeared.

Funny how life works.

But honestly, why am I making promises? Nobody is down there commenting, “Lilo, where are you?” Nobody is emailing me saying, “We miss you!” Nobody is standing outside my imaginary Blogger headquarters demanding new posts.

So I'm back whenever I'm back.

And what finally brought me back?

Death.⚰️

Of course it did.

If you've been anywhere near social media lately, you already know what I'm talking about. August 2026 has been giving “In Memoriam” a little too much material.

Dolly Parton. Tim Curry. Peter Cullen. Jaye P. Morgan. James Lew. Shelley Fabares. Michael Wright. Frank Beard. Yayoi Kusama. Grace Nortey. Rubén Rada—and plenty of other notable people.

And then you look up and suddenly you're hearing about King Harald V of Norway, who died at 89, and King Oyo Nyimba of Tooro in Uganda, who sadly died at only 34.

At some point, I had to stop scrolling and ask:

“Wait… is everybody okay?”

Now, before somebody says I'm being dramatic, YES, I KNOW PEOPLE DIE EVERY DAY.🙄

Death has never needed an appointment.

But when you're seeing one familiar face after another disappear from your timeline, it starts feeling like the universe has opened a group chat called “Celebrities Who Are Leaving.”

And apparently Dolly was the administrator.

😂

But here's the thing I actually appreciate about this whole situation: the ages.

Look at some of these people.

Dolly Parton — 80.

Tim Curry — 80.

Peter Cullen — 85.

Grace Nortey — 89.

King Harald V — 89.

Jaye P. Morgan — 94.

Yayoi Kusama — 97.

And there are plenty more in their 70s, 80s and 90s.

And honestly?

That's a good run.

I've become so tired of hearing about people dying at 18, 25, 30s, 35, 40s and even 50s. When I see somebody making it into their 80s or 90s, I'm like, “Okay! You did your thing!” Obviously, losing someone at 89 is still heartbreaking. I'm not saying age makes death painless. But there's something comforting about knowing that someone lived for decades, experienced things, created memories, watched the world change and left something behind.

And I'm sorry, but I still consider the 70s quite young. 😂

Somebody can be 79 and I'm thinking, “Girl, you're basically 80. What's the rush?”

Then they turn 80 and I'm suddenly like, “Okay, legend. You've earned your rest.”

Of course, I don't actually know most of these people. I know of them—through music, movies, television, art, interviews, fashion and the internet.

But Dolly?

Dolly I actually knew.

Not personally! 😂 I knew her work though. Especially “Jolene.”

And years ago, I discovered that Dolly was actually the original writer of “I Will Always Love You,” which Whitney Houston famously covered.

I remember being genuinely shocked. I really thought Whitney had written all those songs herself. 😭

Anyway, that's another argument for another day.

Dolly's death has also been interesting because people who normally cannot agree on anything suddenly seem to agree on one thing: they loved Dolly. Left. Right. Young. Old. Country fans. People who probably couldn't name three country songs. Everybody is mourning. And honestly, I love that. But then there's the heaven-and-hell debate.

Please, guys.

Stop saying you know where she's going.

“Heaven!”

“She’s with the angels!”

“How could someone like Dolly not be in heaven?”

Guys…

WE DON'T KNOW.

Just say rest in peace. Honour her. Remember her. Leave flowers. Tell people what she meant to you.

That's enough.

And Jolene? Girl, I'm watching you. Because I'm starting to feel like Dolly's death is somehow your fault.

Imagine Jolene sitting somewhere like:

“Well… if I could not have your man, you can't have another birthday.”

😭😭😭

And what's even stranger is that this doesn't feel completely new. I remember September 2025 feeling like this too, with major names such as Giorgio Armani, Robert Redford, Claudia Cardinale, Graham Greene, Rick Davies and Polly Holliday among those who died that month.

So is this normal?

Yes.

I think we're simply watching generations of famous people who lived long lives reach old age, and then, because they're famous, millions of us experience their deaths together.

And maybe that's the part I want to take from all of this.

So, to Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, Peter Cullen, Yayoi Kusama, Jaye P. Morgan, Grace Nortey, Rubén Rada, King Harald V, King Oyo Nyimba and everyone else we've lost:

May their souls rest in peace.

And Jolene…

I'm still watching you. 🫵🏿.

© 2026 The Dreamer’s Pause. All rights reserved.