Dads under glass

My father was a professional photographer, an organic gardener, a builder, an inventor, an outdoor adventurer, an avid reader of how-to and self-help books. I grew-up with books and hands-on experiences and adventures. I grew up in a small, safe town surrounded by lakes and forests. We did a lot of summer camping, played a lot of winter sports, made our own box kites which we flew in the spring, spent week ends shopping in the city for school clothes in the fall. I spend my after-school hours in our family photo studio which was filled with photo lights, cameras, friendly customers and a very efficient high volume photo lab. My dad was a genius. He never said so, but he totally reinforced in all of his children that we were! I believed I was. I wasn't so sure about my siblings, because the truth of the matter is that all great minds do not think alike! If they did, we wouldn't have a lot of choices now, would we!? It is good that the world is full of many practicing geniuses. 

Dad was a hard task master. Perhaps yours was too. If you had a vivacious demanding dad, you know what I mean. Sometimes it was pretty awful and I hated him for many years. (I understand him better now that I have raised children of my own and understand the many issues of being a human and a parent at the same time! 

Dad immersed himself in a lot of wonderful activities and adventures. He exercised his left brain as well as right brain. He combined art with a good head for business. He expressed creativity, ingenuity, discipline and productivity. He was also an efficiency expert. 

Although he was an incredible example for me throughout his life right up to old age and I got incredible training from him, he was extremely short on warm fuzzy skills. I got those skills and examples from my mother's side. Both of my parents were religiously and politically wild. From atheist, to Christian, to Unitarian, to Spiritualism and even Sufism. It is hard living up to my parent's expectation of me! 

Can you identify with any of this as a backdrop for your life? What was your father like? How did your father influence the way you think, feel and do things? 

Your homework this week is to think about the things that your dad was into while you were growing up. Think about the things he could do well and what he believed in. Did he jump around from skill to skill, cause to cause, belief to belief or did he have a handful of those things and never changed much? 

How did your dad's example influence your expectations of men?

If you didn't have a dad around you can make one up for yourself now if you want. I can help you draw one up if you want. Message me and let's talk!