Episode #25 – Jennifer Jordan | The wisdom of dads

Jennifer K. Jordan is a California-based author with a passion for celebrating the spiritual in our daily lives and educating others. She has worked as a writer and teacher and holds dual Master’s Degrees in Education and School Counselling.

As a huge advocate of equal parenting for dads, Jennifer spent many years searching for and interviewing the fathers of Dadly Wisdom, her book which presents a positive image of the active dad. She now offers their powerful stories in this transformative book of love, joy and inspiration.

Jennifer says her motivation for writing her book was her own dad. When her mother passed away in 1998, she got to know her father in a whole new way.

“I came to really appreciate his wisdom as a father”.

She was already a writer, and starting asking people if they knew wise dads not only in her locally, but also in other states, for her book about fathers. Jennifer ended up interviewing 100 fathers, and chose 52 to appear in the book.

Most of the dads she spoke with were older, and she got a sense that to acquire wisdom, life experience is needed. She says the most common characteristic was that they were extremely humble.

“They were just going about their business; feeling called to the responsibility of being a dad.”

Jennifer also says many of them were service-oriented, not just with their family, but with their community.  In addition to this trait, many were men of faith and had an optimistic spirit.

She believes that no one had ever asked them how it felt to be a dad.

“They really love their families and want to talk. I don’t feel like they’re given much invitation to do that in life.”

Jennifer noticed that her own dad became much more vulnerable after her mother passed away, and they shared on a much different level as a result.

I think our relationship was enhanced. We got to know each other as people.

“The main thing she wants readers to take away from the book is that dads

are not alone. She hopes fathers will learn from the stories in the book, as the men interviewed were from many different walks of life. She believes it will help them become even better dads and gain more wisdom about life in general. Finally, she feels that men will have more courage to speak out about their feelings.”

”I’m hopeful (the book) will inspire (dads) to be more intentional about passing on their wisdom. That’s invaluable.”

“Jennifer says that it’s not society’s norm for dads to share their feelings, and it takes a lot of strength for them to realize that sharing won’t take away from their manhood.

Her biggest challenge in writing the book was the sheer magnitude of the project. Project co-ordination was difficult, as the fathers were in other states and countries, and had to approve the final draft. It took one busy dad 8 months to approve his part of the book.

“I was committed to what I was doing, and willing to wait. It was all worth it.”

Jennifer also says that cold calls were often hard to make, as well as interviewing prominent men.

“They were still dads; they just love their kids and wanted to share. No matter how successful

To support dads, mothers can “step out of the way.”

Talking to them about how they feel about being a father and celebrating them for taking care of the family as well is important.

INTERVIEW LINKS:

http://www.jenniferkarinjordan.com/

@JKJWisdomSeries

The post Episode #25 – Jennifer Jordan | The wisdom of dads appeared first on Helping dads in a non-traditional situation be great at parenting..