40 is the new ... 40. And that's okay.

Why I'm welcoming 40 with open arms

A woman.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Josep Curto / Alamy Stock Photo)

Open your browser. Start typing, "40 is the new…" and what do you imagine pops up? I'll tell you. It's "30," with 87 million results, and "20," with a shocking 121 million results. Click on any number of the top articles and you'll read bloggers', columnists', and health experts' exultant claims about how and why 40 is no longer old. Of course, implicit in this argument is the perennial bias against aging, the assumption that everyone — if given the choice — would stay forever young.

I've been pondering my own 40th birthday, which arrives in a matter of days. I've talked to a number of people at all ends of the age spectrum and read dozens of articles like those I mention above. And based on this highly unscientific research, I admit that in some ways, I'm convinced: To be 40 now is certainly very different than being 40 at any other time in our history.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Danielle Simone Brand is a San Diego-based mother of two, a die-hard idealist, and a breaker of conventions. She began her career as a yoga teacher back when most people thought that was a strange thing to do. She holds a BA from Dartmouth College and an MA from American University and has worked as a staff writer, an academic editor, and a researcher on issues of international conflict resolution.