Winter Rain

Hello again.

January was a rainy month in London, and I am without raincoat or wellington boots, the former being left at my sister's in Norfolk, and the latter not yet purchased. The public transport in London is so good that the rain is rarely a problem, although it does prevent me riding my kick scooter around as much as I'd like—well, that and the cold, damp air, chilling my fingers.

I kicked off the year, as I do every year, by ageing. This year I turned fifty-eight, a rather nondescript age. I invited a few friends, neighbours and family members over to our house to celebrate. It was a small gathering, but seemed large in our tiny house. Size, like age, is relative. Am I old now? Chronologically, yes, but I've recently learned of another concept of time, kairos: "The ancient Greeks had two words for time: chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a period or season, a moment of indeterminate time in which an event of significance happens." So, kairotically it is possible I am suspended, ageless, in anticipation of a time of fulfilment. And honestly, that feels like a better description of my internal experience of fifty-eight.

The photos in this newsletter were taken on Southwark bridge, on my way home from the Thoughbot offices, having set up for The Scrum Exchange the next day—an event that welcomed twenty-five people to play and explore. We have another of these in May, and one dedicated to the new "Teal" idea of organisational health. These Exchange events are self-organised, self-motivated, low-priced learning experiences. Consider attending one sometime.

In other news, the girls started nursery, and we now have a once-a-week, and very lovely babysitter, giving Rayna and I more time to socialize, work, study, write and practice being a grown up married couple—something that can easily get lost on the path of parenting.

That's all for now. Please take a look at the upcoming workshops, talks and other events I'm involved in, and maybe click on a link to read something. Have a wonderful February.

In peace, amidst the turmoil,
Tobias

January Writing

I wrote my first essay in many years, for my Beginning Theology class. Writing essays is very different to writing blog posts, and I struggled to make this coherent—and not boring! You can be the judge of that though, should you care to read it :) Other than that, I wrote three posts this month, a personal one on Medium and a couple of Agile ones on LinkedIn.

31 January 2017