The Friday Ramble - Serendipity

The word this week is serendipity, and given the way it rolls trippingly off the tongue, one might think that the word has been around for centuries. Not so, for serendipity was coined by the eighteenth century British author, Horace Walpole, and has its roots in Serendip or Serendib), an old name for Sri Lanka.

Walpole's delightful creation was a nod to an obscure Persian fairytale called, "The Three Princes of Serendip". The three royal brothers of that fabulous tale had undertaken a quest, and as they traveled along, they kept encountering (unexpectedly) wonderful things in unlikely places. By happenstance (another one of my favorite words) and through sagacity, they made discovery after discovery which was ostensibly irrelevant, but which turned out to be meaningful and very useful in the greater scheme of things. So there we have it in a nutshell - serendipity means making happy or fortunate discoveries by chance or accident.

Serendipity is my sweet new canine companion Spenser appearing at the door of the little blue house unexpectedly and urgently needing a mom. Last evening, serendipity was the radiant visitation of a single Virescent Green Metallic Bee to the generous gold and purple of the first Michaelmas Daisies in the garden. If I had hung around in the garden for weeks with my camera hoping for such a composition, I would have waited in vain. As things turned out, I wasn't looking for it, and there it was. Serendipity was going out into the garden with Spenser before dawn this morning and watching Orion climb above the southern horizon with his jeweled belt twinkling.

Call it serendipity or happenstance, we could all use more of it, but we need to be receptive - we need to be open to the magic, wonder and infinite potential of life in order to receive. When we cultivate clarity and the kind of careful attention needed to embrace the serendipitous in life, we feel a little more connected and a whole lot more alive.