Merry Monday to you, dear reader.
Here is your blog containing a tidbit from me, a quote from someone else, and a question for you.
Let me know what you think, share and share alike, have a glorious week.
A Tidbit From Me: Serendipity
My dear old friend Jeanie, in her early 80s, I met for the first time when I was waiting at the bus stop in the pouring rain. Feeling sorry for me, she pulled over and gave me a lift into town in her car that smelled of dog, which she continued to do most mornings before I got my act together and learned to drive. We remained committed pen friends when I went to university. More than 12 years later, we remain good friends.
I met my friend Genry the Younger of Sussex by chance through a travelling app in Bishkek. We became friends instantly, spending the following month travelling together through Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Since then I’ve visited him in Oxford and he me in Guernsey. Summer Sark shenanigans await him.
My partner Alana and I met in 2021, but almost never did, as she flapped and panicked pre-date. She received sterling advice from a friend, “Be yourself, but not too much.” We met at Havelet Bay, drank mulled wine and chatted each other’s ears off. We became inseparable instantly, together ever since, and are still happily yapping away.
Serendipity (ser-ən-ˈdi-pə-tē), from the Sanskrit word Serendip, an old Persian name for Sri Lanka, meaning an occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
Serendipity – such a fun word to say, and its meaning as beautiful as it sounds.
Serendipity is the gift of grace and good fortune, of unplanned but timely connections.
Serendipity is a kind of magic, yet very real.
Serendipity is writing about serendipity, writing about your partner, and finding out the etymological root of the word is Sri Lanka, where my partner now finds herself, fortuitously illustrating the point being made. Chance connections, synchronicities, good fortune.
Those were three personal examples of a possible many, with one bonus intra-blog example.
If these three serendipitous meetings had not occurred, my life would be very, very different. Unimaginably so.
Serendipity is charged by action, by throwing oneself into the world, by saying yes, by being open to life.
The magic of serendipity will never become reality unless you take action in the real world, creating ample avenues and connections through which its magical charge can run. Without this action, without this charge, the world will appear lifeless, grey, and unexciting.
You have no idea what chance connections might produce, fate works in mysterious ways.
Likewise with planned connections, if they are made in the zone of the unknown, outside the comfy old zone of the known – where the magic happens.
A Quote From Someone Else: Road to Hell
“The road to hell is not paved with good intentions. It is paved with lack of intention.”
Dr. Gabor Maté
A Question For You: Who Are You
What would you prefer to say of yourself this week: I am somebody who wanders through life without intention, waiting on reality to throw something at me, or, I am somebody who through intention and action invites serendipity into my life?
Hope you enjoyed the tidbit, quote and question from me, every other Monday.
Type in your email address below to receive these blogs straight to your inbox:
The Works and Chirps of a Guernseyman 