JLo's 'Bridgerton' birthday reveals a longevity secret
Key Takeaways
Jennifer Lopez celebrated her 55th birthday last week by throwing a “Bridgerton”-themed party.
Many experts believe that celebration is key to boosting longevity as celebrations and social get-togethers promote both physical and mental health.
Patients should be encouraged to regularly celebrate key milestones and ‘break bread’ with others.
Hollywood multihyphenate Jennifer Lopez turned 55 last week, celebrating the occasion by throwing herself a “Bridgerton”-themed ball, complete with horse-drawn carriages, a string quartet, and ornate period costumes. Unsurprisingly, the internet had a lot to say about the fete.[] Many commended Lopez for appearing so joyous, youthful, and healthy.
These comments aren’t exactly surprising, though. Beyond being open about how she keeps herself physically fit—preferring full-body strength training workouts—Lopez also challenges stigmas attached to aging.[]
In a 2023 ELLE feature, she told the magazine, “As you get older and you have more experience, you become a richer human being and you have more to offer. The idea of, ‘There’s nothing really valuable about watching a woman over 30’ is so ridiculous, it’s the opposite of right. It just makes me laugh.”[] Lopez also told the magazine that she sees herself working until she’s much older—even into her 90s.
So what’s the secret to Lopez’s wellness?
There might just be a lesson here for the rest of us: Celebration and community can boost wellness and even longevity.[] A study published in the AustralianOccupational Therapy Journal examined older people’s attitudes toward celebrations during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were forced apart by social distancing.[]
“For wellbeing in later life health care, social care, and society need to understand the inherent components and acknowledge ways of supporting participation in occasional events such as holidays, traditions, and family celebrations,” the authors write.
One of the key takeaways is that the predictability and normalcy of celebrations—in other words, events people could look forward to and plan—offer a sense of comfort, especially in times of chaos (like a global pandemic or periods of personal upheaval). Other studies, focused on younger people, have also found that celebration offers key mental health benefits.[]
For many, it’s not only about the love or attention received during a birthday celebration. It’s about ritualizing the passing of time and making meaning out of aging, according to Sage Journals.[]
Psychiatrist Sham Singh, MD tells MDLinx that celebrating birthdays can help people recognize themselves as resilient creatures. “The positive feelings that come from a sense of accomplishment and continuity give a healthy self-identity, which works to promote mental health,” Dr. Singh says.
Anytime we come together in celebration and community is important
Socializing with others—birthday party or not—can also promote wellness, according to a TEDx Talk titled “How a dinner party can save your life” by psychologist Jerome Burt, PhD.[]
“Much of the upheaval and tension—both internal and external—that’s happening in our country is happening because we are disconnected. We’re disconnected from ourselves and we’re disconnected from one another. And there’s an easy, almost primal way of changing that. And that’s breaking bread together,” Burt emphasizes. “We need each other in the deepest way...Get back to breaking bread. Get back to belonging.”
It’s not surprising that simply being with other people can help us. Humans, after all, are social creatures.[] Research has found that loneliness and social isolation can have an impact on physical health, while community can help “reduce exposure to stress, mute the response to stress, and speed recovery from stress.”[]
Dr. Singh says that socializing triggers the release of oxytocin, otherwise known as the ‘love hormone.’ This hormone, he says, enhances trust, compassion, and social bonding. “This hormone acts in a very prominent way to reduce stress and anxiety, improving our emotional well-being,” he says.
More so, socializing with others even stimulates the production of endorphins, “which work on a natural level to increase our mood, thereby increasing happiness and satisfaction. The physiological effects of this drop in stress level through social support may mean that blood pressure is kept lower, cardiovascular health improved, and the immune system strengthened,” Dr. Singh adds.
What this means for you
Some patients may need a proverbial prescription for celebration or social interaction to boost their mental health and wellness. “This participation should therefore be recognized and supported, in that it serves to keep a sense of belonging and community—two very foundational aspects of a healthy, fulfilling life,” Dr. Singh says.
It’s important that patients take celebration seriously—whatever the event—even if it has to happen over Zoom, Dr. Singh adds. “It has been shown that even digital congregation or physically distanced celebration would afford some semblance of normality and feeling, [which is] so critical to mental and physical health.”