I have a note from my dad taped up on my bedroom wall. It is a note he tucked into a package he mailed to me while I was in college. It contained very precious cargo — a dress I wanted to wear to an upcoming school salsa dance.
I kept the note because it made me smile.
Written in his signature-style handwriting and on his new (at the time) OHSU Foundation letterhead, it reads:
Caitlin–
Have a terrific
time at the dance!
Love,
Dad
I pulled the note out again a couple years ago, and having lost my dad several years prior, I burst into tears.
But not for the reason you might expect.
I burst into tears because it felt like a message for the moment —
To live my life.
To enjoy my life.
To enjoy the dance
that is life.
The great cosmic dance and play of being human.
(Extra fitting given his love of the mantra “Carpe Diem.”)
Have a terrific time at the dance all of a sudden had new meaning and I couldn’t get over it — crying and crying at what a magnificent miracle it seemed to be. It felt like a Divinely timed message just for me, in some way, from the great beyond.
And I cried with the perfection of it all. The grief. The loss. The glory. The grace.
Crying not because I was happy. Crying not because I was sad.
But crying because I was so moved by the power of it all. The epiphany, the grace, the metaphor, the love…
The perfection.
It felt absolutely perfect.
And in that moment, I realized the true power our words hold.
Whether you write a letter, a text message, a bestselling novel, or an entry in your personal journal…
They all matter.
Those words — your words — have the power to transform lives long after you’re gone.
Let alone the healing they can bring to your own life while you’re here on earth.
So if you’re at all curious to do a little writing of your own — to take a closer look and explore some of the stories you have about a loved one you may have lost, I’d love to have you join me for The Heart-Mending Wordsmith in the new year.
The course came about because of a writing class I took one summer while I was teaching first grade.
The writing I did held such potent healing power that once I found myself in life coach training years later, I knew it was a process that could help others too.
It includes 8 weeks of live coaching calls and writing exercises that all fit together to help you create a narrative about your loved one — a treasured story that you can bring to life on the page and hold in your heart forever.
Allowing some of your most treasured memories and experiences to be brought into the light of day through writing is one of the most priceless gifts there is.
Say yes to yourself. And yes to your memories.
YES to the power of your words.