Sadly, people continue to refrain from submitting any petitions, and so I've been forced to come up with different writing prompts for myself. I bring you a new feature: Meditations. Today's meditation is on serendipity.
Dictionary.com defines serendipty as "the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident." The word is a gift from the fecund mind of 18th-century letter writer Horace Walpole. The word derives from Serendip, an old name for Sri Lanka, and a story called "The Three Princes of Serendip." Walpole explains that in this story "as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of..."
One can't help but make discoveries while travelling. The view when you travel is fresh because you are separated from your routine; you can observe your surroundings more carefully because you're not part of them in the way you are with more familiar scenery. Fresh observation creates the possibility for interesting discoveries.
I had a moment of serendipity recently when I ran into an old friend at the airport, on my way back home from visiting family. I haven't been in touch with this person in years, and it was very pleasant to catch up with her. Interestingly, my fresh new discovery was of my past! Serendipity is one of the simple blessings that keeps life worth living.
1 comment:
Definitely. Life is so much bigger and so much better than our plans for it. Serendipity is the consolation prize for having no ultimate control whatsoever.
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