girls need to write.
(Photo by Jeremy Madea)
Today is my birthday. I'm 52 years old. Do you know why that is fantastic? Because it means I am still alive! YES! LIFE FTW!
I didn't start writing until I was 46 years old, not really. And I wonder how my life would have been different if as a young woman I was surrounded by an organization like WriteGirl, a nonprofit organization for high school girls centered on the craft of creative writing and empowerment through self-expression. Perhaps I would have come into my voice a lot sooner. I imagine I would have.
So, 52 years old. And in total, hot, exuberant love with the world. And my first born daughter, Emma, is 19 years old today, having been born on my 33rd birthday. What an amazing birthday present.
And here's the birthday present I want today.
My friend, Colleen Wainwright, is turning 50 in September (the young pup) and she is doing something AMAZING for her 50th birthday. She is raising $50,000 (that's FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS) to help support WriteGirl. You know we need to step up and support young women in a way we are not doing. You know we need to encourage girls to speak in their own voices. You know we need to empower young women.
Colleen will shave her head if she reaches her goal and you KNOW we need to see that. More importantly, if she reaches her goal, girls who need support will get it. That is priceless. There is no way to calculate what that means to them, and what it means to all of us. We need powerful, strong women and to get them we need to be powerful, strong humans for our youth. In a way that many of us are not.
In celebration of my birthday, I'm asking you to support Colleen's dream of showing up in a big way for young girls. Every single dollar counts. If you can forgo your Starbuck's for three days this week and give that amount, that's fantastic. If you can give a dollar for every year you've been on the planet, that's great. If you have one dollar to spare, that's awesome. Because it all adds up. Even better, give what you can and then pass this along. Tell others. Tweet it, Facebook it, blog it, Google+ it, and even (GASP) talk to people face to face about it. I think we can do this audacious thing – I truly believe we can, as a community, stand up and say yes to the empowerment of girls.
Colleen, you're awesome for doing this. I cannot wait to see your bald, beautiful head and write little messages in permanent Sharpie on it.
And happy birthday to me and to Emma today! I love her with all my heart, and I love the fact that I'm still alive to turn 52. Fifty-two rocks! It is a powerful, amazing age! And it is one short year shy of the age my father was when he died, so you can believe this is going to be a thoughtful, amazing year for me. Watch out. Watch out. There may be sky-diving in my future. I'm definitely spending this year living like I'm dying.
And now, I'm about to go eat some lavender cake. Oh yes I surely am.
