It’s my birthday. And for those of you that know me, my birthday is my favorite day of the entire year. Maybe its because my love language is gifts? Maybe because I love a fabulous party where everyone dresses up and hangs out with me? Maybe because there is cake?

This year, it hits differently. The last three months were about finding some truth, order, and routine in what felt like a completely out of control time. Apparently I was supposed to take advantage of the time at home and do everything I had always wanted to but felt like I never had the time to – cleaning out my closet, learning how to cook, working out every day, mastering French, taking every Masterclass, growing an indoor garden, journaling… the list that social media recommended goes on. But I really felt like spending the time completely vegetating – watching all the TV, eating all the snacks, and spending hours learning tiktok dances. 

Not to mention, that for those of us that were recruiting – the operating word being were – interviews and meetings came to a screeching halt. I spent days searching for a guidebook - “How to navigate next steps for in-progress opportunities when everyone around you is losing their job”. It doesn’t exist, fyi. And to make it worse, those offers that were months in the making literally dissipated into thin air overnight.  

And now, we’re finally reopening. The cases and death counts are going down in NY. But there is something else on our minds – something that requires our attention. I have said to so many people that I have never been one to be involved in politics, in government, in social reform. But this is bigger than that, it’s a human issue. And something about the timing feels like the perfect storm. It has allowed everyone – even people like me, who blamed my lack of involvement to ‘not having time’- to learn, to have really important conversations, and to make the time to get involved.

So this is all to say that I have decided that 32 can wait. I will turn 32 next year when I can have a big, fabulous, black tie, cake-filled birthday party where I can hug and kiss all my favorite people without masks getting in the way. And instead of gifts, I have decided to donate to a cause I have become passionate about during the #BlackLivesMatter movement – the Equal Justice Initiative, an organization working to end mass incarceration and helping give quality legal aid to the alarmingly high number of black men that are wrongfully accused. If you have two hours this weekend, watch Just Mercy. It will open the floodgates of your heart and if you are like me, you will never feel the same again about ‘not having the time to get involved’. Also, Juneteenth! I always wondered why that was in my calendar…now I know and I am happy to share my birthday with a landmark day that celebrates and honors the end of slavery in the United Sates.