Dialogue Journaling
June 12, 2019: In researching a piece for a speech for this year’s Father’s Day at Church, I came across the following that I wrote in 2012…
This morning while doing my morning pages, quite unexpectedly I started having a dialogue. It wasn’t planned. I was listening to Angela Falco’s music CD (www.angelafalco.com) and remembered what she wrote about her Dad when she was playing one of her songs. His response was “You wrote that? Wow, it’s beautiful.” I began to sob thinking of my Dad – gone since 1984. Wishing I could see my Dad or be with him, I wrote, “I don’t miss him that much to be with him in death – but I’d like to have a conversation with him about life, love and business.” My next words appeared on the page quite unexpectedly:
“Dad, I’m baking a cake this morning, Chocolate Devils Food. You always liked German Chocolate cake, but I loved Devils Food – all that dark richness, I could eat just the batter. When did you start liking German Chocolate Cake? (since I always baked Devils Food cake as a kid)” And so the conversation continued… “Remember that lunch counter we use to go to in Atlantic City on the boardwalk? I had my first piece of German Chocolate Cake there and loved it and you would bake one for me from time to time. It was delicious.” And so I continued to write a few more pages with questions and dialogue with Dad, writing as fast as I could with his responses.
Dialogue journaling is nothing new. I often suggest this kind of journaling to friends and clients to use dialogue journaling as a medium for zooming in on specific issues – especially when it comes to pain, hurt, grief, loss, anger, resentment, jealousy… and some more happier dialogues such as a job interview, discussion with a boss, spouse, love one, friend or family member. Even a dialogue with a diagnosed illness or your inner child are common and healthy. Therapists have used it for years. Some dialogue journaling will also include sketches of scenes to address the anger, hurt and loss, heal the hurt and pain, and help you eventually move on with emotional and personal growth and a new perspective around the situation.
I’m not a therapist, nor is my background in psychology (my college days were spent learning business). But I do recommend dialogue journaling and allowing yourself the time to feel the pain and hurt, and wash it away with tears of sorrow and eventually joy. If you are in therapy, work with your therapist on this as well.
My Dad was a huge influence in my life as an entrepreneur. His passion for music was undeniable and his creativity and artistic expression was certainly passed down to me. Two of my books have dedications to his teaching me perseverance, independence and self-discipline. Even though he’s been gone for 35 years, I know I can have a conversation with him any time using dialogue journaling.
If you would like to participate in my new project “Letters to Dad”, visit my link https://rosemaryaugustine.com/books/letters2dad. You don’t have to be a writer to participate and you don’t have to dialogue with your Dad… check out the guidelines and see if it’s something you would like to consider… Meanwhile, Happy Father’s Day to ALL the Dad’s out there.
Love and Hugs
Rosemary Augustine
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