I'm 38 and right around 34-35 is when you start to notice it IMO. I have minor scoliosis in two places and I threw out my back getting out of bed one morning when I was like 34.

I'm only in my 30s, but it was quite a wake up call, when I noticed my body simply started "failing" in small ways. Knee injury wasn't just a week of "taking it slow", but months, and it's still not really good. If you go to the doctor, you'll suddenly get diagnoses like "yeah, that's how it'll stay now".

The really disturbing thing though is seeing your friends age. That dude who got all the girls in school now has more trenches on his face than Verdun, the super good looking girl now is a woman and becomes a pudgier each year, hair gets gray, skin gets loose. You don't notice that on yourself so much.

And on a social note: the world is shrinking. Those kitchen parties with 30 people you barely know, but met a bunch of new friends are gone. Most of the people you knew in school or university are gone. You try to keep in touch, but that's hard after years of separation. Those who are still close have barely any time left and just hanging out for no reason this evening is no more.

Having a full time job, family and friends simply doesn't work. And that sucks.

I was trying to explain this to my kids - about the mental aging part. Mentally, I don't feel any different than I did 25 years ago. I don't even know what mentally aging would feel like, other than dementia or something like you mentioned.

I was blessed with a strong body. Even as I age my reflexes are still there. My whole body coordination still exists. I am still strong, physically adaptable, and can lose weight easily. Any physical activity is not yet out of reach I've found. However...

My metabolism has slowed.

Injuries heal slower.

I have some pains I didn't have before.

I do get tired more easily.

It catches us all in different ways. I've been luckier than most in some aspects, feel it I still do and it'll only get worse.

I was going to say, I think he aged pretty well despite his silly opinions of late

And then you have people like Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, and Kate Beckinsale who look like they haven't aged a day in decades. It's hard to believe that Brad is like 61 and still looks about 35.

I follow Kate on Instagram (highly recommended) and she's over 50 (IIRC) and still looks like she's in her late 20s. I'm convinced that she's actually a vampire and Underworld was an autobiography.

You notice how everybody has that one famous person that people tell them they look like? Lately I've been getting Michael Douglas. Michael Douglas is almost 80. I'm in my 40's. People just picture Michael Douglas in his 40's because that was the height of his career.

Leading to a lot of Tony Hawk's tribulations.

"I thought you'd be younger."

"Me too."

Never even heard of it! I'll have to check it out

Readers added context they thought people might want to know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulgar_Display_of_Power

Yeah it all ultimately depends on the ratio of the distances to different parts of the subject.

Take a headshot from a foot away, and his ears might be 1.5x that distance away. Take it from ten feet away, and now his ears are 1.05x the distance. That makes their size similarly shaped too. Sometimes called compression, as in compressing the foreground and background together.

Shit just having it would be a win in my book.