This year has kicked off with a flourish and I’ve been left with a few sensations of things that were brewing in my sub-conscious over the holidays (that I would have ordinarily reflected upon and processed while sitting on the beach, but alas, parenting requirements too precedence).

What has been lurking below the surface is best described as a feeling of loss regarding novelty. Let me give you an example. I love epic movies. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy  was a serious highlight for me during the years in which they were released. There is just something about the opening scens of an epic movie that move me! Movies just don’t move me like that anymore. The novelty of that experience has now become, well, bland. I’ve been drawn to Richard Rohr’s teachings on Adult Christianity where he teaches about the two stages of life and spirituality. I’ve now realised that feeling associated with a loss of novelty in life is actually a symptom of my transition into the second stage of my life.  Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been just over two months since my first son, Daniel James Choles, was born. I’ve been meaning to sit down and write the story of his birth, but adapting to the new massive change of having him in our lives has been getting in the way. To some degree Sam and I are still trying to figure out how life works in our new dispensation. Work has changed, social life has changed, marriage has changed …life has changed. Anyway, here is the story of the evening that Daniel James came into this world …

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