Why 5 is the best age to be

The dawn of each new year is always lit with promise and excitement. There’s something hopeful about cracking the spine of a new diary, putting those new pc games you got for Christmas to good use and even swiping your new gym membership card. Goals are set and milestones are charted as we embrace the empty canvas of a new year with endless possibilities that will reveal themselves over the course of the next 365 days.

But 2019 is different for WeAreBrain — it’s our 5th anniversary year. And we can’t wait to dive head-first into the tropical waters of evolution and progress.

The importance of 5

5 is a significant number. Not only because we possess 5 fingers on each hand — hands which have been responsible for quite literally building human civilisation. The number 5, big brother to number 4 and little sister to 6, features extensively in our lives. 5 is the number of oceans on our planet, the number of senses we experience the world through, and the number of tastes we enjoy it most by (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami). The world was once thought to be made of 5 elements — water, air, ether, earth, wind and fire.

Apart from being a Fibonacci number, perhaps its most important aspect is that, according to numerology studies, 5 is the most dynamic and energetic of all the single number personality types. People who symbolise the numerology 5 are unpredictable, constantly in motion and seek out change. They are risk takers who sniff out adventure. They are fiercely independent in both mind and soul. Seeing the connection yet?

The number 5 is also prevalent in religion, further proof that this number holds significance for all of us, no matter your postal code. The Hindu God Shiva has 5 faces and his Mantra is called Panchakshari (Five Worded) mantra. The Goddess of Knowledge and Intellect, Saraswati, is also associated with the number 5. In Christianity, the number 5 represents the number of wounds inflicted upon Jesus Christ. The foundations of Islam are known as the Five Pillars of Islam and Muslims pray to Allah 5 times a day. In Judaism, the Torah contains 5 books — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy — which are collectively called the Five Books of Moses.

5 continues to appear elsewhere. A ‘perfect fifth’ is the most consonant harmony and is the basis for most western tuning systems. The Olympic Games have five interlocked rings as their symbol, depicting the number of continents represented by the Olympians. On almost all devices with a numeric keypad such as telephones, computers, etc., the 5 key has a raised dot to make dialling easier.

Let’s take 5 and bring it all back to us… it is our 5th birthday after all

5 years is a long time for a business like ours. Many try and fail within a year — two max. We have created, innovated, changed, refined, reversed, and continued to progress so many times it’s hard to keep track. But to be restless is a virtue in our business. To be restless means we are continually changing things up, trying new approaches, celebrating what works and learning from what doesn’t.

Although 5 years in human years translates to a child, think about how much information we absorb and learn in that time. How what we experience and the things we are exposed to set the foundation for our perspective and charts the course for the rest of our lives. This is what the past 5 rewarding, challenging, tough, incredible years have given us — and we are better for it.

So here’s to 5 more years of boundary-pushing, rule-breaking, innovation and growth. And in 5 years time, we’ll toast to the next step. What will be the next step, you may ask? We have no idea. And that’s the exciting part. We hope you’ll join us for the ride.

Elvire Jaspers

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