31 Days of Pink

This weekend I walked 60 miles in 3 Days at the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure. Energizer invited me to be their Keep Going Blogger for the San Francisco event, and I agreed because I thought it would be a great opportunity to raise awareness through my blog. I walked to honor my aunt, who is a breast cancer survivor. I walked to honor my grandmother, who survived breast cancer before she passed away. I walked to honor my grandmother's sisters and their daughters, who have all had breast cancer. I walked in memory of a high school friend, who passed away from breast cancer when she was only in her twenties. And I walked in the hope that my daughter, The Pea, will never have to worry about getting breast cancer, ever.

After walking 60 miles, I walked away thinking it wasn't enough. I can donate money to the cause, and I have -- but I'm not rich, I can't donate thousands of dollars. My friends and family aren't rich either, so I can only ask them to donate so much. But I have time, I have a voice, and I have a blog, and I can use all of those to raise awareness of this killer disease. Since October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, now is a good time to start.


I'm not sharing my bra color, but I've added a pink ribbon to remind my Facebook friends that it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.




I've done the same to my Twitter profile.



Think all this virtual pinkification is nothing but show? Think again -- for each person who updates their pink ribbon status on Shine, Yahoo! will donate $1 (up to $50,000) to National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) to provide free mammograms to uninsured women.

And while we're on the subject, I know that not everyone loves all this pink. Some say it's just a way for people to jump on the cause bandwagon. Some say it's too commercialized. I think the response of Susan G. Komen founder, Nancy Brinker, says it all:

When people say there is too much pink, I say there is not nearly enough pink. Without the red AIDS ribbon, we wouldn't have anti-retroviral treatments. We wouldn't have a cure for polio without the March of Dimes.

Please don't tell me we have too much pink, when every 69 seconds a woman is dying of breast cancer in the world. Pink doesn't just mean having a celebration; it shows the power of a grass-roots organization.

We have 2.5 million breast cancer survivors alive today. There isn't nearly enough pink. Get ready for a whole lot more.


In that spirit, I've decided to wear something pink each and every day of Breast Cancer Awareness month. I've asked The Pea to do it with me, and she's eager to participate (since half of her shirts are pink, she'll have an easy time).



Pink for Day 1, 2 and 3 of October was easy, since I was walking the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure. I wore a pink shirt, socks, and shoes each day, but I was far from the pinkest person there. In fact, anyone who didn't wear pink was the odd man out!

I didn't take a photo of my pink (under)garment for Day 4, but it's probably not something you're interested in seeing anyway.


Here's my slice of Pink for Day 5. Okay, maybe I am sharing my bra color.


I may not get around to posting my Pink Photo every day on this blog, but I'll be uploading each day's photo to my 31 Days of Pink Photo Album on Picasa. I've since found out that some high-profile bloggers such as Mom Generations, Mommies with Style, Classy Mommy , Just Precious, and Lady and the Blog are also wearing something pink throughout October (great minds think alike, and all that), so stop by their blogs and give them some pink love. If you're doing anything on your blog to help raise awareness for breast cancer this month, leave a comment; I'd love to stop by your blog and leave a comment to cheer on your efforts.


Blogosphere, get ready to see the world through rose-colored glasses!