I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was going to celebrate my 50th birthday by planning a year of activities and challenges to honor this milestone. I’m calling it Cynthia’s Yearlong 50th Birthday Bash, and so far, as predicted, it’s been a blast.
I originally planned to map out activities for the entire year, but that proved really cumbersome. So in the interest of keeping things simple, I decided to give myself four monthly goals. First, every month I want to launch something, whether an activity or event, product or service, or even a business! Anything goes, but the goal is to launch something new every month. Second, I want to submit my writing to someplace I haven’t tried before, preferably a publication or venue that makes my palms sweat. Third, I want to try something new or different, just for the hell of it. And lastly, I want to tackle some kind of challenge that makes me stretch emotionally, physically, or professionally.
How’s that for going BIG and BADASS in my 50th year?
So besides several birthday dinners and a trip to Sea Ranch with Katie, here’s what I did in April to mark this milestone year:
- Launch—I produced and hosted an extra-long, extra-fabulous Storied Nights: An Evening of Spoken Word called Celebrating Life on the Spectrum which served as an autism awareness event and also the official launch and first fundraiser for Autism A to Z. Six rocking autism moms (me included) shared their funny, bittersweet, and inspiring stories and poems. Marilyn read some other autism-related work and we followed the whole thing up with a book signing. It was an incredible evening and we raised almost $200 for Autism A to Z!
- Submission—I submitted a story to Flash Fiction Forum in San Jose (and was accepted, which is awesome, but that’s not the point).
- New Things—1) I signed my first book that someone had just purchased with their hard-earned cash! Wow, that was an incredible feeling. 2) I got stood up by a guy I met through online dating on what would have been our second—or was it third?—date. Disgusted with online dating in general, I agreed to a blind date with my friend Melanie’s boyfriend’s friend. (Did you follow that?) 3) I walked my first labyrinth and it was an amazing experience!
- Challenge—1) I enrolled two people with Isagenix which means I became a Consultant and then the following week signed up for the 90 Days to Freedom Challenge. This was a serious sweaty palms moment. 2) I also signed up for a four-month-long virtual workshop entitled Nurturing You offered by my friend Sheila Pai of A Living Family. Self-care is not something that comes easily to me so I’m sure this workshop will nudge me to grow emotionally and improve my work-life balance.
I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year holds!
Until next time,
Cynthia Patton
Pingback: Cynthia’s Yearlong 50th Birthday Bash–May Update | CYNTHIA J. PATTON
Cynthia, I don’t know why you still insist on claiming that you launched Storied Nights. You’ve done a great job of running with it. But you did not launch it and you had nothing to do with getting it off the ground. I believe you were the right person for me to hand it off to, but I regret that you seem to need to take credit where credit is not earned. It’s a matter of integrity. I suspect you will either not approve or will delete this comment. Let’s see . . .
Karen,
I have never claimed that I launched Storied Nights, nor do I do so in this post. The launch I’m referring to is the launch of Autism A to Z.
Actually you have . .
No, Karen, I haven’t. And regardless, this post has nothing to do with that. The only launch I’m discussing in this post is the launch of Autism A to Z.
First… Happy Birthday! I love that you are filling your year with fabulousness and finding new ways to celebrate. Year Long is definitely the way to go and love how you have given yourself monthly goals. Don’t forget the celebrations along the way! Looking forward to reading more… it’s exhilarating and exciting.
Oh, how could I forget the celebrations? Maybe I will have to add another category….
Pingback: Cynthia’s Yearlong 50th Birthday Bash–June Update | CYNTHIA J. PATTON
Pingback: Cynthia’s Yearlong 50th Birthday Bash-July Update | CYNTHIA J. PATTON
Pingback: Cynthia’s Yearlong 50th Birthday Bash–August Update | CYNTHIA J. PATTON
Pingback: Cynthia’s Yearlong 50th Birthday Bash-September Update | CYNTHIA J. PATTON
Pingback: Cynthia’s Yearlong 50th Birthday Bash–October Update | CYNTHIA J. PATTON
Pingback: Cynthia’s Yearlong 50th Birthday Bash–November Update | CYNTHIA J. PATTON
Pingback: Cynthia’s Yearlong 50th Birthday Bash–January/February Update | CYNTHIA J. PATTON
Pingback: Cynthia’s Yearlong 50th Birthday Bash, March Update | CYNTHIA J. PATTON
Pingback: The FUN List Revised | CYNTHIA J. PATTON