Fatherless Father’s Day: Writing to Heal Grief

Expressing our grief through storytelling deepens our understanding of grief. And that deepens our potential to heal.

I’ll be part of a podcast this coming Saturday, the day before Father’s Day, to encourage anyone, experienced writers or beginners, to utilize this important tool within their grief journey.

The authors you’ll hear will be reading their personal stories of loss beginning 7 p.m. CST, June 20th for Fatherless Father’s Day — Writing to Heal Grief.

You can slide over to https://letsreimagine.org/3780/fatherless-fathers-day-writing-to-heal-grief and register now. The podcast is free but donations to the organizations are encouraged to support their valuable work. (Note: These funds go to the organizations. I receive no money for my participation.) You’ll see the donation option in the link.

Grief Dialogues and The Karuna Project will host the podcast as part of Reimagine: Life, Loss, & Love, a Worldwide Virtual festival hosted by Reimagine during COVID-19. Your host for the evening will be my friend and publisher Elizabeth Coplan, founder and president of the nonprofit, Grief Dialogues, which stresses the importance of art that supports essential and healthy conversations about grief and dying.

While losing either parent is difficult, father loss comes with its own set of challenges. Expressing ourselves through story deepens our understanding of this grief.

The stories you’ll hear are of real – not perfect – dads who mostly did their best. I’ll be reading my story, Standing in the Gap, from Grief Dialogues: The Book. It’s about my uncle stepping in as a beloved figure after the death of my dad and the lasting impact of his presence.

Claudia Coenen, a certified grief counselor and thanatologist, and the founder of The Karuna Project, will open the session with information on the value of writing through grief.

After the readings, she will instruct us on how we all can use the power of storytelling to begin healing after loss.

I sure hope you will join us. Again, here is the link to register for Fatherless Father’s Day — Writing to Heal Grief. 

Have you utilized writing to record or tell your grief story? How would you say it helped foster a sense of healing?

 

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