I came across this book at the library recently: Dear Me: A letter to my sixteen-year-old self . A funny array of celebrities, including William Shatner, Erykah Badu, Suze Orman, Aasif Mandvi, and JK Rowling, have written letters to their 16-year-old selves. Some letters are insightful and moving. Some are kind of lame. I haven’t read them all yet but I get the idea.

Then I had an idea. My birthday is coming up in a couple weeks. I am fast approaching 40. While there are certain kinks that need ironing out in my life, in general I’m in a pretty good place and I have so much to be thankful for. And things worked out perhaps differently but much better than my teenage self could have imagined.

So I’m going to write a letter. I am inviting you to write one too. You can write it for yourself, you can share it with your family or with me. If you want I will publish a collection of letters people send on my blog. I know you need a deadline, so it’s April 19.

And I know you are not all writers. This is not a competition. You will not be judged. Is just something to do, if you are so inspired. If you feel like sharing, I would love to know what words of wisdom you are sharing with your 16-year-old self.