In the latest episode of "The Dad and Daughter Connection," Dr. Christopher Lewis invites Gianna Davy to share her insights on nurturing curiosity in children and the profound impact it can have on the father-daughter bond. Gianna, a lifelong artist, educator, and author, delves into her own experiences growing up and how her father's support shaped her journey.

The episode kicks off with Dr. Lewis reminding listeners of the podcast's mission: to help fathers build stronger relationships with their daughters. Every week, he brings on guests who share real stories and practical advice to inspire dads on their journey of fatherhood.

This week, Gianna Davy steps into the spotlight to talk about her new children's book, "How Do I Wonder?" and the role of curiosity in a child's development. Gianna reflects on her relationship with her dad, who was instrumental in fostering her inquisitive nature. He nurtured her artistic side by teaching her to see the world through an artist's lens, turning everyday experiences into moments of wonder.

Gianna emphasizes the importance of authenticity in the parent-child relationship. She shares how her father's playful spirit and transparency allowed her to see him as a real person, not just a parent. This authenticity, she argues, is key to building lasting and meaningful bonds.

The conversation also touches on the challenges today’s parents face in a fast-paced, technology-driven world. Gianna encourages fathers to embrace moments of wonder and not shy away from admitting when they don't have all the answers. By modeling curiosity and open-mindedness, dads can encourage their daughters to explore the world with an inquisitive spirit.

Listeners will find inspiration in Gianna’s stories and advice, particularly on how simple, everyday activities can cultivate creativity and connection. From going on nature hikes to engaging in thoughtful discussions sparked by her book, fathers can find numerous ways to engage with their daughters meaningfully.

"How Do I Wonder?" is not just a book; it’s a tool for transformation. It invites readers to ponder the unanswerable and explore the boundless potential of their imaginations. Gianna hopes her book will inspire parents and children to forge stronger emotional connections through shared curiosity.

Tune into the full episode to explore these themes and more, and discover how to be the dad your daughter truly needs. Whether you're seeking practical tips or a fresh perspective on parenting, this episode offers invaluable insights that every father can learn from. Be sure to listen and join the community of dads committed to raising confident, independent individuals.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:02]: Welcome to the dad and daughter connection, the podcast for dads who want to build stronger bonds and raise confident independent daughters.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:12]: If you're looking to build a stronger bond with your daughter and help her grow into a confident, independent woman, you're in the right place. I'm doctor Christopher Lewis, and the dad and daughter connection is the podcast where we dive into real stories, expert advice, and practical tips to help you navigate the incredible journey of fatherhood. In every episode, we'll bring you conversations that inspire, challenge, and equip you to show up as the dad your daughter needs. So let's get started. Because being a great dad isn't just about being there, it's about truly connecting. Welcome back to the dad and daughter connection, where every week we have an opportunity to be able to connect together, to work together, to be able to build those strong relationships, those connections that you want to have with your own daughter. And I love being able to come back every week and have these conversations with you, to walk alongside you. As a father of two myself, there have definitely been times where you'd want those stronger connections and you want those stronger relationships.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:01:19]: And sometimes you make mistakes, but you grow, you build from those opportunities, those experiences that you've had. And that's why every week I love being able to bring you different people, different guests with different experiences that can share some of the experiences that they've had in their life or resources that they have that can help you to build that stronger connection with your own daughter. Today we've got another great guest. Gianna Davey is joining us. And Gianna is a lifelong dancer, artist, and educator whose career spans performance, teaching, and creative pursuits, lives out in California, and has a brand new book that is called How Do I Wonder? And I'll tell you, I had an opportunity to read the book and it's a wonderful book that really delves into allowing your kids to see the world from a very unique perspective and embrace curiosity, which is so important in working with our young kids, but also encouraging our older kids to keep being curious about the world around us. So we're gonna talk about her own experience as a daughter herself, but we're also going to talk about her new book. And I'm really excited to have her here. Gianna, thanks so much for being here today.

Gianna Davy [00:02:32]: Thank you so much for having me. It's an honor.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:02:34]: Well, I'm really excited to have you here today and to be able to delve a little bit deeper into you as an author, but also you talk about your own relationship with your own father. And I guess as we think about your relationship with your own father, tell me what's one thing that your father did that made you truly feel seen, heard, and valued as a daughter?

Gianna Davy [00:02:58]: Oh, interesting question. I mean, there's so many things, I think, that he did. But a little background on my dad first because I think that's helpful to understand him as a person a little. He is an artist himself, kind of in the truest sense of the word. And in that he I mean, he did go to art school for college, but that's really how he sees the world and experiences the world very much. And as an artist myself, I think there was a natural connection there. And so one way that he made me feel seen, I think, is just acknowledging that as a kid, as I was growing up and never pushing it, never forcing me into anything, but just seeing what I enjoyed to do. And then I think he actually really enjoyed meeting me on that wavelength.

Gianna Davy [00:03:48]: And

Musical Outro Performer [00:03:49]: he's

Gianna Davy [00:03:49]: a very playful person and still continues to play, honestly. And so I think meeting me on that wavelength and teaching me what he knows from there. Like, I mean, my dad taught me how to draw as a kid. I think he saw that I liked to draw. And, I mean, he he has so many amazing paintings that he's made over the years. So he really and it's a beautiful lesson, I think, when you mirror learning to draw specifically, but also with learning to see the world around you. Because when you are taught how to draw something very clearly, and he was very specific about it, but he's really teaching me how to see everything in a different way. And I couldn't help but apply that.

Gianna Davy [00:04:28]: I mean, I still think about that forever and ever. When he first was teaching me how to draw a face and some hands and he was saying, you know, they're the hardest things to draw because they're the things that people see the most of. And they're very unique and they're very personal. And so and, like, from then on, it's like you can't look at a face or hands without, like, noticing, like, the shadows here and there. And it just it's this art of noticing out in the world and seeing everything around you in through the lens of a photographer or a painter or whatever that I think I value so much. And I really just appreciate that he saw that in me as a kid and just sort of allowed me to play around with it.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:05:05]: Now in what you just said, it seems like there was a number of moments that really helped you to not only become the artist that you are today, that your father helped to shepherd you in that direction. But as you think back to the experiences that you've had with your dad, was there any other specific moments where your dad's support or guidance really had a significant impact on your growth or confidence?

Gianna Davy [00:05:29]: Well, a specific moment. I mean, it's almost like there's so many. I feel very grateful. I'm such a lucky human to not even be able to think of one moment at this time. I'm an only child also. I feel like I should mention. So I have a super it's like a heightened relationship with your parents in that respect. And so in terms of one, I mean, they really have supported everything that I have done wholeheartedly and not in a pushy way in any way.

Gianna Davy [00:05:57]: They see who I am and are like, how can I help?

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:06:01]: Are there any things that you wish that your dad would have done differently when it came to building the relationship that you have together?

Gianna Davy [00:06:10]: Yeah. Okay. So, and I'm a parent myself too, so it's always interesting to think about these things, like, when you're in the middle of the stage. So I'm gonna get to my point, but I'm gonna tell a story first. So I don't know if you have ever heard of the festival Burning Man. So I've gone many times. It's a really incredible place to be with art and whatnot, and the engineering and whatnot in all of the sculptures that are there, incredible. And I went, and I came back, and I was like, dad, you have got to go to this place.

Gianna Davy [00:06:40]: You will be your mind will be blown with the incredible art that's there. So he came with me the second year, which was a huge bonding experience for us because it's it was just the two of us, and it was like a nine hour drive there and an entire week there with my best childhood friend and who brought her mom too. So, anyway, the whole week and then the whole drive back, and I feel like I was probably 23 or 24 or something. The drive there was one experience. The drive back was another because we had spent this entire week together in an environment we had never been. All this to say is that in the drive back, he started telling me all of these stories about him when he was around my age at that time that were stories I had never heard before. And it was the most wonderful thing to get this insight into who he actually is and was in the world as a real human, because I think that it's so often parents are almost like protecting everything that you're supposed to do all the time. But the reality is we are all perfectly imperfect humans, and I think it was a huge moment for me to just hear all of this background about him when he was a teenager and a young person.

Gianna Davy [00:07:59]: And it made me see him, and it made us bond so much more than we had. So if there's one thing that I kind of wish that I could change, I wouldn't even change it, but it's just that we had more of that earlier on and continue more of it even now.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:08:17]: Now this strong relationship that you have with your own father, how has it influenced the way that you navigate life, relationships, or challenges today?

Gianna Davy [00:08:26]: Like I mentioned earlier, he is an incredibly playful person still to at this point, and I am eternally grateful for how he plays with my own kids. And so I think that alone is and I think my cousin said it really well when we were kids once. He said, you know, your dad is, like, one of the cousins. Like, he would just be the one that was playing with all of us in the pool when we were having family gatherings. So I think my takeaway from him and how it's influenced me is never stop that young at heart feeling and interaction with the world because your relationships can really fizzle if you kind of stop being alive to everything around you. And and he really models that for me. So I'm very grateful for that.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:09:09]: What's something that your dad has taught you that's made a big impact on your life?

Gianna Davy [00:09:16]: That anything is musical instrument. No. I mean, that's my silly answer, but that's a huge question. Well, circling back to I think I kind of already touched upon this in the first question you answered, but he really has taught me how to see the world differently. Like I said, he went to art school. His career and profession, he was a videographer and a photographer, but he had paintings in a museum, and he pretty much can play any instrument that you can imagine. But every movie we've ever watched, for example, he would always be sitting there and going, now do you see that camera angle, or do you notice that this shot hasn't completely like, has been one shot and never cut? Like, he just is always seeing things differently than I would have thought to see. And that inevitably, like and like I said, it applies to, like, the everything's a musical instrument.

Gianna Davy [00:10:05]: He can interact with the world differently than anybody I've ever noticed. And so I think that's what he's really taught me, that there's not really any one way that things are supposed to be. And I think there's so much intelligence captured in creativity, and it's often not valued as much as I think it should be. And I think that we need to have all the different perspectives, and having somebody that's always accidentally showing you a different way of seeing things is incredibly valuable. So

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:10:38]: Now if you could spend an entire day with your dad doing anything, what would it look like?

Gianna Davy [00:10:42]: Gosh. It's been so long since I get so caught up in life. Holy moly. I think we would probably go on a hike together. As a kid, I we pretty much everything we did as a family was camping. That was that was it. So, I mean, I just have so many good memories out in nature, which is another just wonderful way to cultivate, like, super healthy relationships in my opinion, because nature is just it's the it's the ultimate sort of end zone and home base for everyone, whether we have a chance to really connect with it or not all the time. So I think I'd wanna just go on a really super long hike and maybe just take a bunch of pictures, bring our cameras and just take pictures of things, of beautiful things.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:11:24]: What advice would you give to other dads who want to build a lasting and meaningful relationship with their daughters?

Gianna Davy [00:11:31]: My advice is don't be afraid to let your daughters know who you really are as a real person. I think authenticity is extremely valuable when it comes to cultivating a real relationship. You can't be best friends with somebody if you're not willing to let them really know who you are or to present an authentic version of yourself. You know, you think about who you're absolutely best friends with. They know all the parts of you, the good parts, the bad parts, everything. So I think it's a very difficult thing to do, but that has to carry through with parent child, father daughter, etcetera, relationships as well. You can't have a true relationship with somebody while also being a little bit fake or presenting a version of yourself that isn't truly authentic. And so I think don't be afraid to be real with your kids.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:12:31]: Now I mentioned that you've got a new book that's out. How do I wonder? And I would love to hear your origin story. I'd love for you to share the inspiration behind the book and why you feel that curiosity is such an important theme for you to explore.

Gianna Davy [00:12:49]: Yeah. Well, I wanna be clear. It's a children's book also just so that everybody can envision it a little bit more in their head. So the inspiration was 100% my own kids. I have two boys, so I have a mother son relationship, which is different. So as they were growing up, they're nine and 12 now. So when they were little, little, you know, as they just started waking up to the world and speaking, they would ask me just the most incredible questions and, like, mind blowing questions that I was like, how have I never even thought of this? Like, year three. And I just would write them down and write them down because they were so amazing.

Gianna Davy [00:13:25]: And so there was this sort of, for years, like, brewing this book that I didn't even know what it was gonna be. But really when it came down to it and I started writing it, it's one of those things that it writes itself in the end. And really it's about 100% about just exploring the world around you, the power and magic behind creativity. And I think creativity, like I said earlier, is really, like, the base for all intellectual pursuits as well. I think the most intelligent and incredible genius people are the people that are willing to think outside the box. And and I'm trying to create a book that doesn't just tell kids go outside and think thoughts or whatever, but actually makes them think thoughts in the process. And the questions that are in this book, it's sort of a book of questions. It's got a bit of a story, a little bit of an adventure line.

Gianna Davy [00:14:17]: But all of the questions that are in the book, I was very careful to make them sort of unanswerable per se in the sense that there's not really one right or wrong answer. They're all just meant to be sort of pondered and thought about. Like, one of them was one that my son had sent, and it was, did dinosaurs know how to smile? He just turned to me and was like, did dinosaurs know how to smile? And I was like, I guess we don't know. We never really will. So something to think about. So, anyway, that's the gist of the book is really just trying to cultivate and inspire kids to really think about things in a different way and interact with their world in a different way and just value who they are and the power of their own beautiful minds and how you really don't even need any toys or anything. You can just go outside and interact with nature and the world and just build up your brain in the most incredible way.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:15:08]: In building up your brain in in really the in the book itself, I guess as I read the book, I kind of had a question of when I think about fathers and the role that they play, what role do you feel that fathers can play in encouraging curiosity and wonder in their own kids, especially with their daughters?

Gianna Davy [00:15:27]: I think modeling it. I think you have to not be afraid to be a curious person yourself and continue to question things around you. It's okay to not know the answer to something also. It's okay to look at something and be like, gee, I wonder why it's like that or just seeing something and noticing something and drawing attention to your kiddo. Yeah. But I think it's really, you know, it's not about always knowing the answer. It's sometimes just about exploring the possibilities.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:15:57]: I love that. Now, in the book itself, you are encouraging kids to ask those open ended questions. What advice would you give to dads who want to nurture their daughter's natural curiosity?

Gianna Davy [00:16:10]: Go outside and interact with the outside world as much as possible. But, you know, I realize it's not always possible to just be on some grand adventure out in the woods or nature or anything. But any place whose purpose is to sort of play and be creative, but I don't necessarily wanna say go and, you know, there's, like, arcades and things like that where you can go and and play. But that's not really that's that's a very defined kind of play that has one purpose and one end zone. So open ended experiences is where there's no one version of what you're supposed to be doing. That's what I recommend, especially for younger kids.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:16:56]: Now, as you said, your book has a number of prompts or open ended things for people to think about. How do you think that fathers can use this book as a tool to spark meaningful conversations with their kids?

Gianna Davy [00:17:10]: Well, I hope that the whole book, the whole time people are reading it, meaningful conversations are being sparked automatically. I think don't rush through the book. As you're reading it, as there's a question, ask your child, ask your daughter, what do you think the answer to that question is? And then say, like, what your answer is and ask someone else and compare and be in awe of how many different versions there even could possibly be. It's a total conversation starter. Read the book once and then just go through again and just think about the questions, you know? Yeah. That's my recommendation.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:17:43]: As your kids get older, they see the world in different ways. It is a fast paced world, and with technology being what it is, there's answers that are only a click away. How can dads teach their daughters to embrace the joy of wondering instead of always seeking immediate answers?

Gianna Davy [00:18:06]: Oh, gosh. Yeah. That's such a tough one because I think we are all so guilty of the, oh, let's just Google it. It is part of the culture of today, 100%. And it's a really hard ask for parents these days who are so typically overwhelmed and overworked to not just revert to the technology all the time for everybody's sort of quick fix, save the moment situation. But one thing I will say is that if and or you know, as much as you possibly can, try to not fall back on the quick fix answer technology, iPad, cell phone, whatever, etcetera, etcetera, it really pays off in the long run. And so it's like one of those things where you just put a little bit more effort in the beginning for greater gain at the end is if it's at all possible. But I'm saying this with huge empathy of everyone's state as a parent in the world and how difficult that can be.

Gianna Davy [00:19:08]: But I'll just say with my kids, like we really tried to hold off on that constant, yeah, just relying on the Internet and whatnot. And they're still very curious, I will say. I'm very happy about that.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:19:22]: Now as you said, this book is geared toward young readers. What impact do you hope that this book has on the next generation next generation of young readers?

Gianna Davy [00:19:32]: Well, I just hope it gives them something to think about and sparks all those little neurons in their brain to, like, find new pathways. I think, you know, you have to be able to envision something that isn't even right in front of you to really be a creator or an innovator or an inventor or anything in this world. You can't only just stick with the things that are right in front of you. So I'm really hoping that just it only takes just a couple of inspirational moments. I mean, I think we've all had those moments in life when you just something clicks and you just see something a little different differently than you than you had. And it just shows you, oh, there's all these different layers to life and to the world. It's not only this one layer, this one texture, this one color. So I think if I could just give just that little bit of inspiration to somebody where they just are sort of pushed ahead into a new realm of thinking, that would be the ultimate joy for me.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:20:28]: Now we're definitely encouraging all of you to go out, grab this book because of all of the prompts that are in there. Now, Gianna, are there specific activities or follow-up discussions that you recommend for fathers and daughters after reading the book together?

Gianna Davy [00:20:44]: Like I said, I really I'm just hoping that that it's not just a read it through and end there kind of situation. I really hope that it becomes an open book on the coffee table and and a discussion that continues at the dinner table, comparing ideas, and it just can't end with the last page.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:21:04]: Now if people are interested in learning more about the book and how they can connect with you more on insights into fostering curiosity in kids, where's the best place for them to go?

Gianna Davy [00:21:14]: Well, they can go to my website, which is giannadavey.com, or I have an Instagram page as well that's named after my first book, actually, which was called No One Owns the Colors. So which is yeah. It's another book that I wrote. But you can find the easiest would probably be jiannadavey.com because you could just Google my name, and then it has the information about both of the books that I've written and other sort of creative adventures I'm on.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:21:40]: And we'll put links in the notes today. Gianna, I just wanna say thank you. Thank you for sharing your story with the masses, with all of us today, sharing your story with your own father and what he did to be able to inspire that curiosity in yourself, and I truly wish you all the best.

Gianna Davy [00:21:56]: Thank you so much for having me. This This was absolutely lovely.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:21:59]: That's a wrap for this episode of the dad and daughter connection. Thanks for joining us on this journey to build stronger bonds and raise confident, independent daughters. Remember, being an engaged dad isn't about being perfect. It's about being present. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and share it with a fellow dad. And don't forget, you can find all our episodes at dadanddaughterconnection.com. Until next time, keep showing up, keep connecting, and keep being the dad she needs.

Musical Outro Performer [00:22:30]: We're all in the same boat. And it's full of tiny screaming passengers. We spend the time. We give the lessons. We make the meals. We buy them presents and bring your AK. Because those kids are growing fast. The time goes by just like a dynamite blast.

Musical Outro Performer [00:23:05]: Calling astronauts and firemen, carpenters, and muscle men. Get out and be the the world to them. Be the best dad you can be. Be the best dad you can be.