This is a big week… it’s the one-year anniversary of the Liberated Life Project, and on Sunday it’s my 50th birthday.

Truly, I cannot believe that’s the number I’m hitting! I’m guessing those of you who have passed that milestone know what I’m talking about — there’s a strange disconnect between how young my spirit feels and the number of years that have passed on the calendar.

As I’ve gotten to know other people in the blogging world, a trend that I love is the practice of giving away things on one’s birthday. Danielle LaPorte, for example, is a master of this. So I’ve decided to follow in this noble tradition, and I’m really happy with what I’ve created to give to you to celebrate both these occasions.

My gift to you is a collection of some of my favorite pieces of writing from the past couple of decades. (Honestly, I don’t think I was a very good writer before that time, so I left out all that earlier crap.)

I put it all together into an e-book called “Collected Words.” And I threw some of my favorite photos in. It probably won’t be everybody’s cup of tea, and that’s fine. For those of you who enjoy writing about the intersection of the personal, the political, and the spiritual — well, this may be your cup of tea.

So here you go, friends — download away:

The Birthday Book [aka Collected Words]

This is a free offering — at the same time I don’t want to stifle the circle of giving and receiving, should you feel so moved! So here’s a totally optional donation button below should you feel inspired to give something back. In the spirit of paying it forward, I will donate 20% of whatever I receive to two of my favorite social profit organizations — 10% will go to support Partners in Health, and the other 10% to the scholarship fund at Upaya Zen Center. And the rest I’ll use to continue to pay down my student loans, and maybe I’ll do a little something nice for myself as well.

Really, though, it’s okay to just download the book without making a donation. I’m very happy to share it with you.

Birthday blessings to all of you!