Furtherhood

Father’s Day 2014

I need to make this a quick post because I have to get back to my kids.  Father’s day is about spending time with fathers. I spent time with the father that raised me today and the father that made me is coming to visit from Australia in one week.  It is now time for me to be with my kids – enjoying their company and relishing why it is so great to be a father.

I recently read a post about the dichotomy between productivity and relaxation.  While productivity is essential for accomplishing great progress or even earning a living, relaxation has it’s place.  In fact, decompressing can lead to a wealth of increased being.  I will say that one can’t work all the time and one can’t sit on your butt all the time, so… we need to find what works for us as individuals.  As far as fatherhood goes for me, I have focused on squeezing as much time with my two daughters in as possible.  They are 5 & 7, they will continue to grow fast and before I know it they will be leading a more independent existence, leaving me more time for other pursuits.  That is why I work when they are asleep, at school, otherwise occupied and attempt to be available as much as possible when they are not.  I call this furtherhood because I go further to be there as a father.  It is a small window and a huge opportunity for me to bond and shape their development in ways that will have far reaching implications for the rest of their lives and those the engage with.  Don’t underestimate the daily interactions that build up, especially in the highly formative years of young childhood, in creating well adjusted humans that will make the world a better place, and carry forward to manifest the dreams that are latent in them and unfulfilled in us.  Children are the promise of a future, the physicality of immortality, the reach of the spirit, the arrow flying straight from the steady bow as Khalil Gibran wrote in the prophet.

Find your furtherhood, find your passion and bring your kids along for the ride.