Listen to this one (3:46). Same story, my voice.
I have a confession.
I almost let this birthday sneak up on me. I was going to do what I usually do: be quietly aware of a milestone approaching, feel vaguely contemplative about it, and then wake up on the actual day and post something gracious and collected on social media. Like a normal person.
But then I thought: no. Not this one.
This fall, I turn 50. And 50 is not a birthday you tiptoe past. Fifty is the kind of number that deserves a parade. Or at minimum, a very intentional countdown.
So here we are. Day 50.
What is this series?
For the next 50 days, I am going to write my way to my birthday. Every single day, right here on the blog: a story, a lesson, a memory, a confession, or an observation from five decades of being alive on this planet, specifically in this beautiful, chaotic, ever-surprising country called Kenya.
Some posts will be funny. Some will be honest in ways that might surprise you, possibly in ways that will surprise me. Some will be about work, about building, about leading. Some will be about faith. About failure. About the things that cracked me open, and the things that put me back together.
Fifty years of stories, and I’m just getting started.
Why do this publicly?
Honestly? Because I think we do not talk enough about the real texture of a life.
We share the highlights. The promotions, the stages, the polished headshots. We share the inspirational quote at the right moment. But the actual journey, the detours, the plot twists, the seasons where you were not sure what you were doing or why, that part tends to stay private.
I want to try something different. I want to tell the real version. Not the version scrubbed clean for an audience, but the one that might actually be useful to someone reading it at 2am wondering if their life is turning out the way it was supposed to.
Spoiler: mine has not turned out the way I planned. It has turned out better, stranger, and far more interesting.
What to expect
The next 50 days will move through four chapters:
Who I Was: childhood, early memories, the things that formed me before I had any say in the matter.
What Shaped Me: faith, work, failure, pivots, the people who changed my trajectory.
What I Know Now: the real lessons. The things I wish someone had told me. The things I am glad nobody told me.
What’s Next: because 50 is not a finish line. It is, if anything, the most interesting starting point I have ever stood at.
An invitation
If you have been reading this blog for a while, welcome to the celebration. I am glad you are here.
If you are new: hello! You have arrived at a very good time. Grab a seat.
And if you are also somewhere in the vicinity of 50, or approaching it from either direction: I hope something in these 50 posts feels like it was written for you. Because in some ways, it was.
Day 50. Let’s go. 🎂
Come back tomorrow for Day 49: my origin story.
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Sign the guestbook
Leave me a birthday note, tell me which post was your favourite, or share your own way to shine. I read every one.
