I recently celebrated another birthday. Celebrated here meaning I ate at an all-you-can-eat buffet and seriously questioned whether pants with buttons were necessary that day.

And as the flames danced atop the birthday candles – metaphorically speaking, that is, as there wasn’t any cake at all – I couldn’t help but notice something off. Not in a “should’ve used a lighter instead of the blowtorch” kind of way, but in a deeper, more poetic sense. The candles just didn’t seem to fit on the cake like they used to.

Flashback to 30 years ago: San Diego, CA, 1995. A younger version of me stood on stage, guitar slung low, sweating under the stage lights. Oh, and singing the mighty words from Triumph’s Magic Power… I’m young, I’m wild, I’m free!

A friend snapped a photo of that moment, forever capturing a time when life was loud, raw, and deliciously unpredictable. And back then, birthdays came with adventure baked right in.

Today, I may not be jumping off amps or waking up from city to city but I still feel the fire. I still feel the energy. Fewer guitar solos, maybe, but I still hum the melody of a life that’s mine. On my terms.

So here’s to another trip around the sun! Even if the candles lean a little to the left and the frosting hides a few existential questions.

Freedom isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s in the quiet confidence of knowing who you truly are. And still dancing with it. Birthday cake in hand.

And no, I still don’t think pants should’ve been required.