Father, Dad…
A few days after Father’s Day and inspired by an article in the Canadian newspaper Herald (June 14, 2025), we return to a topic that has concerned us deeply throughout the year: the role of the father in our lives.
In our first piece on the subject, we highlighted the profound impact this figure has on our psyche. We spoke about strictness, distance, but also about the possibility of a new kind of father — more present, more available, more human. The role is changing. The question is: are we changing with it? Is society ready to make space for him? Not honorary space. Real space.
In the Herald article, a young father shares his experience with simplicity — the exhaustion, the responsibility, the worries, and the small joys. He doesn’t seek praise. He doesn’t self-promote. He simply speaks a truth: being present today as a father is not an act of heroism. It’s an act of daily conscious participation. You’re not “helping.” You are there. And when that presence is genuine, it shifts the whole dynamic of the family.
But such presence needs space in order to stand. And that space is not a given. Society still sees the father as the “helper,” the “good guy” when he does the bare minimum. Men who wish to show up differently for their children often do so against the current — with limited time, little understanding, and even less support.
On the other hand, the role of the father in our own lives — shaped by previous generations and different societies — has left its mark. For some, that mark is positive; for others, painful. The second part of our experiential workshop with Katerina Vougioukli, focused on the relationship with the father, has been postponed again and again. The flow didn’t allow it. And we listened. Perhaps because it touches something deeper. For some, the father’s presence was never enough. For others, it was difficult. For many, it was confusing. But this workshop is not meant to reopen wounds. On the contrary. It aims to acknowledge and soothe them — not through conflict, but through honesty. Through space. Through care.
The latest postponement becomes an opportunity. The workshop is now scheduled for Saturday, June 28th at 17:00, and it marks the closing of this season’s series with Katerina. It is a moment that may help us reconnect with something that, until now, may have remained unspoken. Not to stir the past — but to create space in the present.
When we first wrote about the father, we recognized that his presence — or absence — shapes us. Today, we see that the role exists. But the space still needs to be created. And that’s not just about fathers. It’s about all of us.
