Just a Day of Note: Another Year Around the Sun
By Rani Sheilagh - Cyberpsychologist | Wellness & Lifestyle Futurist
On celebrating life, defying age boxes, and living deliciously on your own terms.
I’ve never been one for big birthday fanfare.
No countdowns, no balloons, no “look at me, it’s my day!” energy.
Maybe it’s because I’ve never liked being boxed in by numbers, or maybe it’s because once you hit what I affectionately call the FiFiFoFums (those fabulous forties and fifties), what you crave shifts a little. Or maybe it’s just me.
You stop trying to celebrate for show, or because you feel you should, and start trying to celebrate well.
Birthdays, for me, are less of a spectacle and more of a small marker and a lovely day of note.
A pause. A quiet smile at the fact that I’ve made it around the sun again.
And here’s a non-sciencey confession that relates to birthdays: I like astrology, and have forever been aware of the cycles of the moon. Yep, I love the moon!
Not as a predictive or defining thing, but as a lens and a way to think about time, rhythm, and renewal. There’s something poetic about the idea that each orbit, each return, offers another chance to check in with yourself and your direction. And that applies whether you’re 21 or 81.
The Joyful Noise
Many a year, I’ll find myself out at a gig with a favourite DJ. Not the glamorous kind, but the sweaty, shoulder-to-shoulder, bass-thumping kind that makes you lose track of time and yourself in the best possible way.
That’s my version of going wild. Oh, and I do! (If you know me, you know.)
I often don’t tell anyone it’s my birthday. I just show up, dance, laugh, and let life move through me. Though, to be fair, my nearest and dearest know, and they always make sure I feel celebrated.
In a world that documents everything, there’s something delicious about moments that live only in memory. No posts. No tags. Just presence.
It’s a reminder of what I talk about so often. Joy and pleasure don’t need to be curated, or captured, or turned into content. It just needs to be felt.
That, to me, is part of Living Life Yummie. It’s a practice of showing up fully for the flavour of life, and the ultimate gift to yourself.
The Gentle Pause
Then there’s the other half of the celebration: the quieter one.
A day spent entirely with myself. It could be a lazy morning in bed, a solo coffee date, a gallery wander, maybe a long, indulgent massage if the day allows.
I write. I breathe. I notice.
The light through the window, the warmth of the cup, the comfort of being unhurried.
It’s time designed to nourish, not impress. To fill the senses, soften the edges, and remember what actually matters. And it is not limited to birthdays!
Beyond the Box of Age
Here’s the thing, I’ve never understood why we use age as a shortcut for identity.
Why do people feel the need to ask you how old you are? What for?
It’s strange how quickly people make assumptions the moment they know your number.
“You’re too young to understand.”
“You’re too old to start something new.”
As if curiosity, creativity, or growth have an expiry date.
Or, on the other side, as if wisdom has to be earned in decades.
Ageism works both ways.
It can make you feel too old to try something new or too young to share what you know.
And that mindset limits everyone, because experience and perspective don’t belong to one generation.
It’s not just others who do it, sometimes we do it to ourselves.
We decide we’re “past it,” or “not ready yet,” or that it’s safer to stay quiet than be judged.
We let the labels of our age shape our days more than our actual desires do.
But the truth is, age is just one of many stories we tell about ourselves, and it’s often the least interesting one. At least until we make it to 100!
When we stop leading with numbers, we start leading with energy, presence, and perspective.
We stop performing who we think we should be and start reconnecting with who we actually are and value others in the same way as curious, capable, and still evolving.
A Yummietarian Kind of Celebration
Birthdays, for me, aren’t about ageing. They are about aligning.
About feeling lucky to be alive (and yes, for anyone in the FiFiFoFums or beyond, maybe there’s a dash of denial in the mix).
They’re a gentle check-in:
Am I living in a way that feels nourishing?
Am I making space for connection, creativity, and calm, both online and off?
Am I still saying yes to what lights me up, even if it doesn’t “fit” the expectations of my age, stage, or season?
Because what Living Life Yummie really means is refusing to shrink yourself into other people’s expectations, and staying curious enough to keep growing, laughing, and tasting life fully.
The gig and the quiet morning after. The laughter and the stillness. The feast and the pause.
All sides of being human, with all parts equally valid and equally alive.
A Birthday Reminder (and a reminder for everyday!)
Maybe the best gift we can give ourselves, at any age, is permission.
Permission to change. Permission to rest. Permission to play. Permission to keep showing up for joy, for growth, and for ourselves, no matter how many times we’ve orbited the sun.
Because the older (or younger) I get, the less I care about counting years and the more I care about counting moments that make me come alive.
And that, to me, is part of what it means to Live Life Yummie.
