Create a Warm Fuzzy File

There are days where it’s nice to have something warm and fuzzy to nestle in to. If you keep a “warm fuzzy file, like my dad taught me, you’ll have something special on those “cold, prickly days.” (photo by Manuta)

When I was a beginning teacher, I got a beautiful letter from Ben Suadi’s father. Ben was a child in the classroom where I did my student teaching. I showed it to my father (who was an Episcopal priest) and he encouraged me to create a “warm fuzzy file.” He pulled open a drawer in his big desk and showed me his warm fuzzy file where he kept notes and letters from parishioners and community members that were positive, encouraging, and acknowledging. He said, “You will want to have one of these so that you can read them and remind yourself that you are making a difference. Most days you won’t need them but because we all have ‘cold and prickly days,’ you will be thankful you have these reminders available.”

I have kept a warm fuzzy file ever since then and recommended it to so many classroom teachers, college professors, and executives in my classes and workshops over the years. Consider these ten ideas for yourself:

1. Designate a folder in your desk or in a nearby file cabinet. Label it “Warm Fuzzies.”
2. When a parent, student, former student, client, colleague, or community member sends you a letter, card, note, or other written correspondence that acknowledges your concern, impact, or another way that you made a difference, read it, savor it, and then put it in your “warm fuzzy” file.
3. You can be as selective (or as non-discriminating) as you like. It is your file. Keep what you want to keep. Toss what you don’t care to keep.
4. When you need a reminder (on “cold, prickly days”) or a psychological boost, retrieve your “warm fuzzy” file and read some or all of what you have kept so far. And anyone who says he/she doesn’t need a psychological boost some days hasn’t been in the professional world for long…
5. When you read those notes, letters, or other documents that are in your warm fuzzy file, take as long as you need to. Soak in the words and sentiments of the person who wrote to you. Know that you are making a difference. Remember the event and the person and let that seep into your psyche and your heart.
6. If you are an academic who writes and submits articles to refereed journals, I encourage you to keep a warm fuzzy file that is just related to your writing. This one may take awhile to amass, but it is worth having a place for it. Then, when the notes arrive from those who have read your articles — or the letters from editors and reviewers who thought your work was excellent appear — you have place to put them. Believe me, you will be glad you have these to read (since you are bound to get some “cold & prickly” comments from reviewers and editors). Everybody does but it doesn’t make it feel any better.
7. Although you can keep your warm fuzzy file in a folder or a box — with no order whatsoever — you can also organize it in some way, e.g., 1) letters from students about teaching; 2) comments from administrators; 3) acknowledgements from advisees; and the like.
8. Having your warm fuzzy file organized in some way allows you to access those special supportive comments when someone is putting together an award application for you. The personal comments are very helpful to the reviewers of such award applications.
9. I had never thought about having an organized “warm fuzzy” file until one of my doctoral students (who knew that I kept one because I encourage others to do the same) asked if she could borrow it because she wanted to do something for me. It turns out that she created an amazing scrapbook of a multitude of these cards, letters, and other pieces of paper. It’s one of the most treasured gifts I have ever received.
10. Consider creating an email warm fuzzy file, too. It’s fine to print out some of what you receive via email, but you may choose to keep a digital file of such. Just make sure it’s part of your back up!

I appreciate my dad for teaching me about the Warm Fuzzy file. And you may have noticed in the first paragraph that I knew whose father sent me the first letter that ever went in there. Let’s just say it’s been a long time since I was a student teacher but the memory of that child and his father’s letter have never left me — and I have read that letter many times over the years as part of giving myself reminders that I had made a difference even when there were days that were bringing me down to very low points.