At Work or Home, Daddying is Always on Our Mind
- Allan Shedlin
- Jul 20
- 4 min read
Guest Post by Anthony Fleg, MD
DCG DADvisory Team Member, Blogger, Author, Writing to Heal: The Journey Continues
The stage was set for the book release celebration. Writing to Heal: The Journey Continues is my second book, and I was excited to see it finally make it to the finish line.
We gathered in a space in the Old Town section of Albuquerque, a healing space called Expressions.
Energy in the room: Check.
Good people gathered to celebrate the moment: Check.
Food to munch on: Check.
All was ready to go, as I came up front to speak along with my youngest daughter, Sihasin. She was excited to share with the crowd a piece she wrote and accompanying artwork she created for the book. If people were expecting more of an official book reading, well, this was the extent of it.
Later, Sihasin sat and signed books alongside me, as she was indeed a co-author. I smiled ear to ear. Daddying moments in the book release celebration:
Check.
Writing to Heal: The Journey Continues is much different than my first book, Writing to Heal: A Pandemic Journey to Healing. Whereas, the latter is a journey through the first year of the pandemic as a front-line health worker, as a dad, as a community member, my new book is about how we re-emerge from difficult spaces and places. It's about overcoming, arms linked together. Through reflections on art, nature, movement, and social justice heroes, I hope to inspire readers to action and reflection. I also hope the book inspires readers to write for their own healing.
A big part of this book was bringing my daddying self into the project, as opposed to leaving that part of me behind. It is a natural thing that we all struggle with – how to wear our professional hats while not leaving our family behind.
I asked my 4 children – Nizhoni, Bah’Hozhooni, Shandiin, and Sihasin – to write pieces for the book about a favorite place we've travelled to as a family. I was excited to see what they would come up with. The pieces were left in their original, handwritten form, as opposed to the rest of the book, which is the usual type-set.
And because this book had an audio version planned, we also took them to the recording studio to record their pieces. Not quite as glamorous from a kid’s point of view as going to an amusement park or an ice cream shop, but from my vantage point, a wonderful moment to bring them into my work as a healer and an author.
I am honored to share this "behind-the-scenes" story with you, hoping it will encourage you to creatively and unapologetically find ways to wear the daddying hat in the professional part of your life. In essence, it's about bringing our whole self – our authentic self – to the work we do.
It is a way to proclaim to the world that the daddying hat never comes off.
Daddying Film Fest 2026
The 5th annual Daddying Film Festival & Forum (D3F) welcomes film and video submissions, including TikToks and Instagram reels, from students (3rd-graders through undergraduates), Dads/Granddads, Dad figures, and indie filmmakers worldwide! Dads/Granddads, Dad figures, and students can submit videos/films for FREE on D3F's FilmFreeway page through Friday, Oct 3, 2025. Regular entry deadline is Monday, December 8.
And DC-region student and Dad singers, rappers, bands, choirs, dancers, and poetry slammers, don't forget this year's NEW Daddying Film Forum Opening Acts Contest! We're hosting a music, poetry, and dance video competition to choose opening acts that will perform live at the 4th annual Daddying Film Forum in Washington, DC, January 30-31, 2026. The contest is open to local DC, Maryland, and Virginia students, Dads/Dad figures, and Granddads across a range of musical, spoken-word, and dance performance categories. Contest entries are FREE* but must be submitted no later than October 3, 2025.
Not from the DMV? No problem! Even if you're not located in DC, MD, or VA, we'd love for you to create/submit a daddying-related music/dance video for D3F 2026 consideration, and all student and Dad/Granddad/Dad figure entries are still FREE if submitted by October 3, 2025. Students/Dads/Dad figures will still be eligible to earn Atticus Awards and prize money in their respective award categories! Check D3F's website for more details.
*NOTE to choir/dance directors, teachers, and other adults submitting videos on behalf of their students:Â Please submit contest videos on FilmFreeway as "student" submissions to ensure properly qualified as FREE entries.
Anthony Fleg, MD, is a proud daddy of four, husband, son, and brother. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, he has called New Mexico home since 2008. He is a family physician and educator at the University of New Mexico's Department of Family and Community Medicine and College of Population Health. He is Co-Founder of the love-funded partnership, Native Health Initiative (NHI), which he co-directs with his wife Shannon, a Dine’ (Navajo) woman who guides him in life’s adventures. Anthony also founded NHI's Running Medicine program, of which DCG's Daddy Appleseed Fund is a proud supporter. Follow Anthony’s Writing to Heal blog. His books, Writing to Heal: A Pandemic Journey to Healing and Writing to Heal: The Journey Continues are available through Community Publishing.
