I've had a couple long conversations about age in the past week, so it seems valid to address it today.
Why do we care about age? It's all based on perceptions of others.
Age really doesn't matter. But for some reason we place importance on the number because we are told to. It is our attempt to quantify (via time) something that is qualitative (life).
Age brings about the "shoulds". By this age, you should be at this point... you should be able to handle these responsibilities... etc. Who says you can't take care of that stuff now? Using specific ages is just lazy thinking.
Dating is a big forum where age becomes an issue. So what if there's a gap between the two in question? At the end of the day, the only people that this relationship matters to are the people actually in the relationship. If you want to date someone a few years older/younger than you, do it. If you're happy, then who cares? Judgments by people who you couldn't really give a flip about aren't worth your time.
It's the same thing with your life in general. Nobody cares more about your life than you do. You ultimately choose how to live it. If something is that important to you and age seems to be a barrier, you'll find a way to break through it.
30 is the new 20. 40 is the new 30. Why does it matter?
