Rebranding: Finding Me In the Second Half of Life

It was five years around this same time that I sat down to write my first blog. At the time this was meant to be a place for me to journal about some of my anxieties about quickly approaching 40. Over the years it has grown into a place for me to reflect on the stuff of life that shapes me- theology, film, books, travel, reflections.

As I now approach 45, I have never felt more deeply, and inevitably entrenched in the second half of life. Thus I felt it was tim to rebrand this space. The new name- thestoriesofmylife.ca, is meant to evoke a slightly new directive in terms of what I hope this space can become. I wanted it to reflect my desire to capture not simply my anxieties about growing older, but the stories of the people, places, experiences, memories, and art that have and continue to inspire me. This will continue to include my passion for theology, film, books, and travel of course, but I hope that my writings can effectively capture why these things are important to me and give them a proper voice.

On a practical front, here are a couple of things I am hoping to do in 2021:
1. Bring an increased focus to my love of story and narrative storytelling. I still have a link on my home page to my letterboxd profile, which is where I will continue to diary and log the films I watch. But my goal is to focus in on setting these films, as well as books and poetry and art, in conversation with the stories they tell and hopefully capture why these stories are meaningful to me.

2. One thing I really enjoyed doing in these last weeks of 2020 is offering pairings of films/books and other art. I loved the way this was able to to shed greater light on the stories that mean a lot to me, and I hope to do more of this in 2021

3. Use this space to engage a personal research project on the relationship between memory, faith, personhood and community. Over the last bit of 2020 I’ve managed to compile over 75 pages of material. My desire is to use this research to write a book, an autobiography built from my memories, my experiences, my passions and my learnings. This is a long term project that I hope this space can help foster and encourage.

4. I have decided to upgrade my space as well to hopefully make it more accessible to others should they desire to follow along with this life long journey we are all fellow travellers on, be that through reading, dialoguing or sharing.

In any case, I know this is a small, humble site and I am simply a single individual, but I did want to set some of this in writing for those who do follow and also to myself accountable. I have been so grateful for the chance to write over the years, and I have greatly appreciated everyone who has been there with me, listening to some of my ramblings, encouraging my passions, and wondering with me as I ask questions, work out anxieties and work out these sometimes disparate and confusing thoughts. This space has often been a life line for me personally. Here’s to making the journey ahead into the second half of life equally as meaningful.