Róisín Ingle: In your 50s it feels like time is rapidly running out. Time for what though?

Sharon Horgan has a new television series out and that is always a reason to celebrate. It’s called Youth because apparently the decade between 50 and 60 is known as the youth of old age. I’m halfway into the prime of my youth, in that case. I’ll be 55 in a couple of weeks, which is pleasing from a symmetrical point of view. Also, it’s quite satisfying from a bingo caller’s perspective. Fifty-five! Snakes alive! Bingo! At 55, I have to confess I can’t keep up in certain scenarios (Zumba) but can still hold my own in others (Padel). And there are other areas where I no longer bother trying. I confess to being at a loss regarding the typographical flourish of my favourite coffee shop located on the quays near The Irish Times. It’s called Volume[s]. You can’t just call it Volumes. The square brackets are not silent, they are an essential part of the brand and those square brackets speak Volume[s]. Almost everybody there, except me, is dressed in what I’ve taken to calling directional trousers. That is trousers with interesting, surprising shapes. Trousers I don’t think I could ever get away with, however much I might try. Also, a decent swathe of the clientele seems to be in the full flush of Actual Youth. I queue up behind them anyway because the chefs there put unusual combinations of things on bagels that taste so delicious I find myself daydreaming about them while I should be working. It’s not an everyday lunch but a once-a-week treat. Their tomato chilli crisp creation deserves a food Oscar. I might not be able to wear the trousers, but the older I get the more I am drawn to The Youngs even when I don’t understand things such as square brackets around a letter for no apparent reason. My fellow 50-something friend says I am not supposed to understand and that I’m not to be intimidated either. “They just know different things to us,” he said, which I found calming. [ Sharon Horgan on suddenly being single in your 50s: ‘Will I just attract weirdos and freaks?’Opens in new window ]I’ve been watching Youth and thinking about that decade between 50 and 60, which apparently goes faster than any other. As I approach the midpoint of mine, it does feel as though Horgan, who through her hilarious, moving work has done so much for the emotional wellbeing of Irish women, has a scientifically accurate thesis going on here. These last five years feel as though they have gone by in five minutes. If as a teenager you feel you have all the time in the world, this 50s business feels as though time is rapidly running out. Time for what though? What is it I so urgently need to do?READ MOREI need to learn how to put make-up on properly for one thing. I should have learned this skill by now. I did my make-up the other day for an event and checked myself out in the mirror, initially feeling quite pleased. Not bad, I said. Not bad at all. Then I put on my reading glasses and had another look. What the actual? There was rogue black eyeliner under my eyes, the blusher was applied in clown-like strokes while lipliner dappled my chin. I ended up going out make-up free. It felt safer.I got my make-up done by a professional for the premiere of Youth in the Stella Cinema in Rathmines. The place was full of people in the throes of Actual Youth and plenty of women like me in the Youth of Old Age. Veronica, who I went to primary school with and hadn’t seen for more than 40 years, came up and introduced me to her 30-something daughter Serena. She had formulated an all-natural hair oil that banishes frizz. She launched it during the summer. Would I like to have a try?The hair oil looked promising but I was more interested in Serena’s story. She was in the bloom of Actual Youth and had been saving to buy a house for the last 10 years. Two house disappointments and one relationship breakdown later, she was nowhere near to either a home of her own or her dream of starting a business. So she decided to quit her job in finance and use the mortgage deposit she’d saved to invest in the hair oil and now here she was, standing in front of me with a hopeful face and an elevator pitch I found hard to resist. I went home and tried the hair oil, which smelt amazing – all lemongrass and cedarwood, bergamot and sandalwood. And it got rid of all frizz.[ I’m in my 50s and want to start over with the one who got awayOpens in new window ]I don’t know much about numerology but a little bit of research tells me that if you believe this kind of thing, 55 is an “angel number” and it could be a sign of “upcoming life changes, personal growth and fresh starts”. I like the idea of a fresh start. Wiping the slate, and my face, clean.Serena’s fresh start has arrived in a little brown bottle with a mermaid logo. She calls her company Sirens Unite, because Serena or Sirena translates as mermaid in Italian. I went online and bought a bottle, for the price of a few speciality bagels. She hopes her Siren Elixir will be the first of many products. And snakes alive, I hope she’s right.