Before beginning this week’s post, I want you to know that this post is about celebrating Father’s Day. If this is a sensitive topic for you, you may want to skip this post and rejoin us next week. Please feel the love, light and peace that I’m holding for you!
Happy Father’s Day! This post is about the spiritual practice of Gratitude.
One morning when I was about 8 years old, my dad and I were at home by ourselves. After my dad and I ate breakfast and I was ready for the day, I went to play with my dolls in my bedroom while my dad read the newspaper at our dining room table.
At this time, I was trying to teach myself how to french braid my doll’s hair. While I understood the steps required to french braid her hair, my fingers were not cooperating. They did not get the memo that my doll desperately needed two french braids in her hair and I, as her mom, had to put these braids in her hair.
After 30 minutes of unsuccessfully trying to braid my doll’s hair, I went to see what my dad was up to and had a BRILLIANT idea. Upon seeing my dad sitting at the dining room table, I asked, “Dad, can I do your hair? I know how to make your hair POP!!”
My dad put his newspaper down and laughed as he said, “What do you have in mind?”
“I think you need a good brushing and then a few of my barrettes. They would look great on you!” I said, as I moved his head from side to side to see just where my barrettes should go.
My dad agreed to my plan and I ran to my bedroom to get my brush and barrettes. Once I returned to the dining room, I put my container of barrettes on the table and began brushing my dad’s hair. He had super thick, curly hair that was quite fun to play with. But on this day, I wasn’t playing. I was a serious hairstylist tasked with giving my father the best hair style of his life! Sure, I had given myself the task, but that didn’t matter to me.
After I had sufficiently brushed through my dad’s hair, the real work began: deciding where each barrette belonged on my dad’s head. I looked in my container and found the perfect first barrette… it was bright pink with a touch of glitter. I tried with all of my might to open the barrette, but had no success. I became a bit upset with my fingers because my dad’s look would not be complete until he had several brightly colored barrettes throughout his hair.
Sensing my growing impatience with my hands, my dad asked, “How’s my hair coming?”
“I can’t get the barrette open to clip on your hair and you need the barrettes so your hair looks pretty,” I said.
“Ok, ok. How about if you hand me the barrette you want to put in my hair and I’ll put it in?”
I agreed and began handing my dad each barrette. Once he opened the barrette, I told him where the barrette should go and he clipped the barrette into his hair. We made an awesome team!
After about fifteen minutes and who knows how many barrettes, I stepped back and looked at my work. I was so proud of myself. My dad looked GOOD! He had all of the ribbons, glitter, pink and purple that his hair could handle.
I told him, “Dad, you have to keep this style all day!”
“I will. I promise!”
“Do you like it?” I asked as he looked at himself in the mirror.
My father probably had many thoughts running through his mind as he looked at himself. One of which was most likely, “I’ve been a father for all of 11 years and I’m now wearing bows in my hair. What happened here?”
To his credit, though, when I asked him if he liked his new look, he said, “I love it! You did a great job!”
Although I’m fairly certain that my dad had never entertained the idea of wearing barrettes and glitter in his hair before this day, he understood that as my dad there was simply going to be a good amount of ribbons and glitter in his life(and in his hair); just as I understood that as his daughter, I have the solemn and serious responsibility of making sure he looks as pretty as humanly possible in pink, purple and glitter!
Fathers, and father figures, embody the Divine through loving their children and whoever else they choose. During this Father’s Day week, I thank my grandfathers, uncles and those who chose to be father figures to me. Most of all, I thank my dad for loving, guiding, supporting and nurturing me to reveal the fullness of who I was created to be.
Love, blessings and purple,
Allison
You can do this exercise as often as you like this week. If you need modifications to the practice, scroll down to the section titled Access Notes.
Expressing Gratitude For Your Father(s) And/Or Father Figure(s)
Make a list of the father(s)/father figure(s) in your life. Set a timer for between 3 and 5 minutes. Say(either orally or via sign language) why you are grateful for each person on your list. When doing this exercise, feel gratitude at the deepest level of your being.
The following modifications are intended to create equal access to the spiritual practice above. These modifications are somewhat general to be as useful as possible to as many people as possible. Please feel free to further tweak the exercise as needed so that you can participate as fully as possible while honoring your body’s needs.
1. If you are unable to speak verbally or communicate via sign language, try the following modifications and see which one works best for you. The most important part of the exercise is that you feel gratitude while you express gratitude.
Set a timer for between 3 and 5 minutes and deeply feel gratitude while you either,
a. Think about why you are grateful for each of your father(s)/father figure(s), or
b. Write or type why you are grateful for each of your father(s)/father figure(s)
2. If you want to type or write why you are grateful for your father(s)/father figure(s) and typing or writing is challenging, type or write one or two words that sum up each reason you are grateful ( for example, instead of typing “I’m grateful for my dad because he is a good listener,” write or type “good listener”).
3. If doing this exercise for 3-5 minutes is not possible, do the exercise for as long as is healthy for you.
