Betty Blogger

I've never been a spiritual person. Never religious. I'm not one to be in tune with a deeper sense of existence or space or being, or whatever it is that enlightened people can deeply sense.

Things I do believe in: Leaving your comfort zone; learning from others; and being open to and trying new things.

In following this latter set of beliefs I've been led to the opportunity to glimpse the former, more spiritual experience. In a few days, I'll be traveling two hours west of Sydney to the rural Blue Mountains to be a student in a ten-day silent meditation retreat.

How does someone like me find out about and decide to do something like this? Reading books, of course.

A few months ago, engaged in my favorite time-filler - hanging out in Border's - I noticed a new book, 30 Something and Over It, by Australian Kasey Edwards. As the straightforward title implies, Kasey woke up one day in her early thirties with a persistent case of the blahs - aka a thirty something crisis, aka ‘thrisis' - and set out to recapture meaning and joy in her life.

Despite a small age difference - perhaps I should coin ‘twisis' - the similarities with my own recent decisions weren't lost on me, so I bought the book to see what Kasey figured out. Alas, there was no formula that computes where I should live, how to land my dream job or where find the perfect man. But it was a funny and thoughtful examination of a year in her life, and I found myself relating to it.