Reframe my navel-gazing as the big 30 approaches

March 12, 2009 5:20 PM

There's a term/idea referring to a period of introspection or re-evaluation occurring around age 30 (I actually have the feeling it's more precise than that: 29?). What is it?
posted by springbound to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

Not sure if this is what you're referring to, but Gertrude Stein wrote about the "fateful twenty-ninth year" in which "we exchange a great dim possibility for a small hard reality."
posted by [user was fined for this post] at 5:23 PM on March 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Saturn Return
posted by moonshine at 5:25 PM on March 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Nope, not it, but I'm intrigued by the Gertrude Stein quote anyway and inspired to go chasing down more, so thanks for that too!
posted by springbound at 5:28 PM on March 12, 2009

Response by poster: moonshine got it! 29.5 years! Even more precise than I remembered!

Imagine me trying to turn *that* up on Google with only what I wrote in my question to use as search terms... I was getting nowhere! Thanks moonshine!
posted by springbound at 5:31 PM on March 12, 2009

That article is written in an in-universe fashion, and should be rewritten so as to more clearly reflect that the subject is fictional.

:-)

The weirdest part is that I read the link here like 3 times, and got "Satan Return" all three.
posted by baylink at 8:17 PM on March 12, 2009

I thought it was quarterlife crisis.
posted by IndigoRain at 9:56 PM on March 12, 2009

Response by poster: Well, it does begin by stating it's "an astrological phenomenon" (ergo something that happens according to astrology's understanding of the world), with the first paragraph also including the phrase, "It is believed by astrologers that", in case you missed that, eh? What, ya want every sentence to begin with the disclaimer, "This is silly tarot-card-reading-rune-throwing-hippy claptrap, but: ..."? ;)
posted by springbound at 9:58 PM on March 12, 2009

Response by poster: Oh "quarterlife" is so imprecise, man. I'm 29.75, c'mon... you can see the attraction here..! :)
posted by springbound at 10:00 PM on March 12, 2009

Yeah it's always been my impression that Saturn Return and quarterlife crisis were describing the same thing.
posted by skechada at 9:29 AM on March 13, 2009