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Nobody can hide their birthdays anymore, so there's no point in lying.

Birthdays are meant for special occasions.

For the youth, the indignation of most things will just surge as each birthday passes.

Most of us can remember a time when a birthday - especially if it was one's own - brightened the world as if a second sun has risen.

Every generation is obsessed with the decade before they were born.

I decided if you're lucky enough to be alive, you should use each birthday to celebrate what your life is about.

Birthdays are a reward for having shown up 365 days in a row. It's like getting a badge for attendance.

But look, I was born in 1956, the peak year for births in US history. I think I'm very representative of many of the thought processes my generation have been through and, by and large, people of my age have had their imprint planted on the consciousness of western society for a long time.

If in previous decades large historic events drew people together and oriented them toward collective action, the recent double trend toward greater choice but less security leads the young to see their lives in more individual terms. Big events collectivize. Little events atomize.