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Fathers: CRAFT your story!

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Reflect on Your “What I Like About You” List and CRAFT a Letter Story

Everything You Need to Write a Personal Letter —- Just in time for Father’s Day! 
CraftscenefinalLetter-writing is still a great form of communication, not only to connect to someone you care about, but to connect to yourself. The process is reflective and aligned with the principles of Storykeeping; pour a cup of coffee or tea, take some quiet time for yourself and write your thoughts in your own, unique hand. Put on some music and have your pet at your side. My dog, Flash, always joins me. :)

Handwriting Opens a Window on the Soul

An article in the New York Times puts it this way:

A good handwritten letter is a creative act, and not just because it is a visual and tactile pleasure. It is a deliberate act of exposure, a form of vulnerability, because handwriting opens a window on the soul in a way that cyber communication can never do. You savor their arrival and later take care to place them in a box for safe keeping.

The Letter is Your Story: What I Like About You Actually Says A Lot About Me!Flashhelpscraftfinal

You’ll find that the items on your “What I Like About You” List say just as much about you and what you value as they do about your father. Your “story” with your father is not as much about events you’ve shared as much as it is what we bring to every situation he is present, thought of, or mentioned.

Step 2-CRAFT a story
  1. Reflect on your “What I Like About You” List.
  2. Decide who you will write. Ideas include: your father, your siblings, your children, your mother, yourself.
  3. Pick a Letter Story Spark below. Decide if you are using the items you checked, circled or * starred; there is a Story Spark below that corresponds to each. Write a sentence about your father, then write a sentence about yourself.  My “Real Story” examples below show you how!
    • Kindred Spirits Letter – This letter explains up to 3 ways you are like your father using the items on your list that have a check. Item chosen from my list: He is an early riser.
      • REAL STORY: Letter written to my father: Kindredspiritsletterfinal 
      • I have a memory of you in the early morning hours, in your running shorts, sweaty from your run, reading the paper or catching up on work at your computer (long before most people had computers!), eating a bowl of granola. I have this memory because I was up too, albeit an hour or so later than you, heading out for a run myself, working on a project or reading a book. Like you, I’m drawn to the peace and quiet of the early morning, when everyone else is asleep. Even now when you come visit, I know that when I wake up, you’ll be seated at your laptop doing some writing… 
    • Tradition Letter – This letter explains up to 3 ways you are passing on what you like about your father to your children. This could be a family tradition, how you are parenting your children, behaviors, interests or emotions. Use the items on your list that are circled. Item chosen from my list: He is always able to stay positive.
      • REAL STORY: Letter written to my children. 
      • My father is always able to stay positive. No matter how bad things get or how insurmountable the events are, he is unflappable. He is forward-looking, finding something good to focus on, holding onto that. I’ve seen that quality in each of you, too, and that makes me happy. Caroline making the lacrosse team after being cut the year before, William always able to find a reason that something is a “good thing” are just two examples of this…
    • Inspiration Letter – This letter explains up to 3 ways you are inspired by your father. Use the items on your list that have a * next to them. Item chosen from my list: He is patient. 
      • REAL STORY: Letter written to myself.
      • My father is patient. No matter how difficult the conversation, he allows me to be where I am emotionally. He then gently responds. His patient response gives me space and usually leads me to a better place. I want to remember this when I’m feeling impatient with people. I want to remember how it feels to be opposite a patient person in the middle of a difficult conversation and be that patient person for someone else. 

Be sure to take a digital picture of your letter and save it in your “Safekeeping Stories” folder in your “Father” file.

I am inspired to do this activity about my mother! ;)

Ready for Step 3- Share? Click here.

Which Letter Story Spark did you choose?


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