Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

Yesterday this blog turned a year old. I’ve actually been doing this – sometimes not at all consistently, but I’ve hung in there – for a year.

Wow!

I do want to share some thoughts on what I’ve been through as a new blogger, as well as call out some people without whom it wouldn’t have been possible, but right now, I’m going to share another milestone.

In four days, I’ll turn 40.

Yup, I thought I’d get a bigger reaction out of you with that one. Time flies when you’re having fun.

I don’t know if I’m killing my future career prospects by revealing my age, but let’s face it, if you know me and/or have been following me, you should’ve figured it out by now.

Plus, this is supposed to be social media and the 21st century, right? “We’re here and we’re ol-der, get used to it” and all that.

I’ll confess, I still get a kick out of it when I’m carded. Who doesn’t like being thought younger than they are, other than, possibly, five-year-olds? But I watched with admiration as Danny Brown pulled together the 12for12K initiative when he turned 40 and figured I could try to do something along those lines.

This year, I’m trying to raise money for Kids with Cameras, a non-profit organization that teaches the art of photography to marginalized children in communities around the world. And right now, they’re undergoing a capital campaign to build a safe haven for young girls from Kolkata’s (my home town) red light district.

I tried to bring attention to them on my birthday last year, having been inspired by the likes of Beth Kanter, and my friends and community – you – were very kind in keeping me going.

If you didn’t read (or don’t remember) what I wrote about them last year, and why I relate to the Kids with Cameras, here it is. And I still believe that we communicators have an enviable opportunity to touch others, by virtue of what we do. Communication is our lens.

This year, I’d really appreciate your support – and celebration of all I’ve put up with to get to 40! – by you visiting my Facebook Cause and, if it moves you, donating whatever you can to help me raise $800 for them. It’s not 12for12K-level, but it’s a beginning. And my friends Alissa Friedman and Geoff Livingston have kicked it off – thank you both!

Will you help me change the lives of children you’ve never met? It really would be the best birthday gift ever.

Thank you!

Image: Kids with Cameras