What do the Hubble Space Telescope, Adobe Photoshop, Windows 3.0, and I all have in common?
We were all released in 1990.

I have a very existential view on life, time and birthdays. I don’t like to make a big deal out of my birthday because really, it’s only happened one time, ON MY ACTUAL BIRTHDAY. What most people celebrate is just the relative anniversary of the date on which you were born.

But what I find fascinating is that it is in relation to how the Earth spins on it’s axis in conjunction with it’s orbit around the sun that determines the day in a calendar year in which you were born.

And the fact we only calculate our birthdates based on Earth-time is what has gotten me thinking that when we finally send humans out to Mars to colonize, will the first Martian-born child have a two birthdays? One based on a Martian year and another based on an Earth year?

Why don’t we do this now?

As you can probably tell by now, growing older really has no immediate impact on how I perceive my life other than the fact that everybody else around me takes birthdays so seriously and I don’t understand why.

But don’t get me wrong, I enjoy celebrating the festivities as well but to a point. And that point stops short of throwing a huge party and getting ‘turnt’. I enjoy just a modest get together with friends and family with a cake and then I go to bed for the day.

But really, I only use birthday’s as a measure of how much I’ve learned, grown, and accomplished within a certain time-frame. And my 24th year of life was no exception. I accomplished much of what I set out to do and I only have myself to thank for pushing through and having things I can look back on and be proud of.

Also, I will say this:

The fact that you can have people around you that know and care about you enough that they call or text or tweet or post on your Facebook wall just to wish you a happy birthday is all I’ve ever really asked for. And thankfully so because Facebook gives you those little helpful Upcoming Birthday reminders. Otherwise me and millions of other Facebook users would forget our dearest friend’s birthdays.

Thank you all.

Eight years ago I admitted a dream

To chase it I had to give up everything

But the things I’ve learned and the things I’ve found

All of them made me who I am now

– We Came As Romans