CREDIT: GUARDIAN.CO.UK
Psy's smash hit "Gangnam Style" reminds Susie Mah of fun times.

"Gangnam Style" is going through my head these days. It's that catchy tune by South Korean pop star Psy, played out in a candy-coloured, irrepressively funny video on YouTube.

Psy dances through fake snow in a wind tunnel and horse trots around with a bevy of models in tow. In his sky-blue suit and dark sunglasses, he is somehow übercool even though his dance moves are as outlandish as the "Chicken Dance" at weddings. I dare you not to smile when you see his short legs and arms keeping perfect time with the feverish beat.

The infectious grooviness of the video is a perfect pick-me-up for the chilly, wet days of November. The hot colours of the costumes, the melody's hook and the energy of the dancers all make me want to just get up and dance. I love the humour mixed up with the carefree abandon of the dancing. It just looks like so much fun.

I wish I could go back sometimes to my "Gangnam Style" days, when I would get dressed and made up to the nines and go out all night with my girlfriends to dance. I had my favourite look (ponytail, skinny jeans) and signature dance moves, too. Those were the days when hair, fashion and make-up were a lot more fun because I was a young art student and had a hip persona to project.

Now I'm an adult and look sober, serious and responsible. Though I feel as young, rebellious and adventurous as I ever did on the inside, outwardly I'm a career woman, mom and wife. I can't stay up all night and go to a nightclub anymore (I need my sleep and so do all my former dancing partners), but still, I could use some "Gangnam Style" in my life.

It's not necessarily bad, but fun these days looks very homey. It centres around getting together with my family and friends for food and conversation and celebrations of holidays and milestones. We're all older and just don't have the same time or energy for clubbing. As for style, I have a few touchstones of my fashion-forward days: a wristful of jangly bangles, nice shoes and skinny jeans, but I'm never going to look like a cover of Seventeen again.

I've crossed some line I didn't even notice years ago when working for a living, raising kids and maintaining a house erased the ability to laugh and play easily. Life feels so serious as an adult. Hopefully noticing this means I haven't lost the capacity to enjoy life. Hopefully it just means I need to have fun wherever and however I can and remember to be positive, humourous and even silly sometimes.

So during this dark, cold, rainy season, I hold onto memories of carefree days, the experience of a night of dancing, breakfast with friends when the sun was just rising, when I didn't have a schedule to wake up to and life had so much light-hearted fun.