Sing Your Joys, Sing Your Sorrows: Six Lessons From My Father
My father was not a self-help guru or a psychologist, but looking back, I realize how many of my deepest values were shaped by watching him navigate joy, grief, uncertainty. Here are a few lessons he taught me—not only through his words, but through the way he lived.
• Keep choosing life. No matter what.
• Humanize, humanize, humanize every room you enter. The cranky nurse in the palliative care unit? She’s having a tough day, just like you. Flirt with her. Make her laugh.
• If you find something—or someone—to love, go all the way. Don’t worry about what it looks like to anyone else.
• Be a giver.
• Sing your joys and your hurts. Just don’t keep them bottled up inside.
• Never, ever, EVER underestimate anyone. The greatest teachers don’t always arrive wearing fancy robes.
I know that not all of us had a loving father, but almost everyone was left with something—a gift, a burden, a lesson, a longing, a story. What is one thing your father—or someone who stepped into that role—taught you that has stayed with you over the years?
I’d love to read your stories.
Happy Father’s Day wishes to everyone practicing the sacred art of fathering,
Julia