“We talk about chasing happiness, but sometimes happiness is already there, waiting to be acknowledged. A breath. A smile. A quiet sense of enoughness.”
Jane Seymour combined that reflection with a sunlit beach image that resembled more closely a reset button than a birthday post. She was barefoot in the sand, with arms raised into the sky, clad in a white one-shoulder swim suit, a wide-brim hat and a pair of sunglasses on her head, and the waves crashed behind her. The message was received when she entered her 75 th year, something she has positioned not so much as an endpoint to her life but rather as a chance to relax and pay sufficient attention to recognize what already seems stable.
Simultaneously in the same caption, Seymour posed the question of the followers what made them feel peace in the past week, which was actually a rather narrow-focused question that shifted the interest towards attention rather than appearance. It was also similar to how she has discussed aging in her recent interviews: not as something to “fix”, but as a practice of consistency, care and perspective daily. Her celebration style continues to that tone, extending the birthday into a season of gatherings instead of just one night that is constructed in around big statements.
Among the occasions was a happy lunch with friends and relatives, when Seymour came in a bright pink, one-shoulder dress as a cook brought out an elaborate cake with a sparkling candle on it. She hashtagged the shot similarly, with her let-yourself-enjoy-it spirit: “Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too? … you simply enjoy the moment.” The ambiance was everything: as important as the food.
Away the scenes, the attitude of Seymour to wellbeing has remained delightfully simple. She has explained that she has tipped her hat to a Mediterranean-style diet of fish, vegetables, tomatoes, olives, and made her day with lighter breakfast and a heavier midday meal. She has also indicated that she likes making decisions she could maintain as opposed to following strict rules and she says, “I am never on a diet, I just make good choices and stick with them.” Pilates and light weights have been incorporated into her workout program, and followed up that frequent checkups are important especially due to family history and the fact that heart disease is one of the most pressing issues of health faced by women.
Her skin care philosophy is also based on the same principle of “do the basics well”. Seymour has added that she feels like exfoliating and protecting skin every day, cleansing and moisturizing, and takes sun protection as nonnegotiable. In her interviews, she has stated that she applies an over-the-counter retinol and maintains dermatologist appointments, basing her practice on such behaviors as SPF usage and wide-brim hats rather than seeking immediate solutions.
The year Seymour is also giving her some form: she has been completing a memoir, which, she describes, is an completely fascinating process, and adds, I am trying to decide what to leave out of the book. That is, as she edits the story, it continues to grow.
Perhaps this is the silent undercurrent of her 75th birthday posts: celebration as a presence. Be it a day at the beach with arms raised to the sky or a room with people singing over cake, the theme of Seymour remains the same, namely, happiness, spotted in the details, in tiny, manageable, small spots.
