Serendipity…what a fun and enchanting word! As a lifetime lover of words I dare say this is my favorite word in the English language. A word that conjures part “serene” with a hint of good-natured fun.
Serendipity, that chance beneficial meeting. The unexpected conversation that provides just the answer you’re looking for. The perfectly timed taxi ride that takes you past the movie theater showing the movie you’ve been wanting to see, where you accidentally knock over somebody else’s popcorn, who turns out to be the boy from school you used to have a crush on, and guess what? A year later, you’re happily married.
If you find good things without looking for them, serendipity - unexpected good luck- has brought them to you.
Serendipity was created by a British nobleman in the mid-1700s from an ancient Persian fairy tale about three princes from the Isle of Serendip. The meaning of the word, good luck in finding valuable things unintentionally, refers to the fairy tale character who was always making discoveries through chance.
A new word was proposed – “serendipity” – to describe this princely talent for detective work.
You can thank serendipity if you find a pencil at an empty desk just as you walk into an exam and realize you forgot yours.
A surprising number of the conveniences of modern life were invented when someone stumbled upon a discovery or capitalized on an accident: the microwave oven, safety glass, smoke detectors, artificial sweeteners, X-ray imaging. Many blockbuster drugs of the 20th century emerged because a lab worker picked up on the “wrong” information.
If that is serendipity in action, how does it work? Are there higher powers directing the details of our lives? Or is it just a random coincidence of events?
Is there anything we can do to enhance the occurrence of these positive events that make our lives a little more smooth sailing and a lot more fun?
A study was done in the mid-1990s. It consisted of about 100 people to find out how they created their own serendipity, of failed to do so. The qualitative data – from surveys and interviews – showed that the subjects fell into three different groups.
Some they called “non-encounters”; they saw through a tight focus, and they tended to stick to their to-do-lists when searching for information rather than wandering off into the margins. Other people were “occasional encounterers”, who stumbled into moments of serendipity now and then. Most interesting were the “super encounterers” who reported that happy surprises popped up wherever they looked.
The “super encounterers” loved to spend an afternoon hunting through, say, a Victorian journal on cattle-breeding, in part because they counted on finding treasures in the oddest places. In fact, they were so addicted to prospecting that they would find information for friends and colleagues.
According to the conductors of the experiment, you become a “super-encounterer” , or “serendipiter”, in part because you believe that you are one. It helps to assume that you possess special powers of perception- like an invisible set of antennas that will lead you to clues.
There have been many other interesting experiments involving our energies, frequencies and vibrations at which we view ourselves and how they are met and reflected back.
Still, it’s important to keep in mind that discoveries are a product of the human mind. Keep in mind, as you go about your day, that “clues” area lurking all around you. Why not be a “seredipiter” from today on? Wouldn’t life be more fun?
Serendipity; what a beautiful word! That overseas trip that was almost cancelled then decided to go on short notice; only to arrive and run into my soulmate when the elevator door opens – priceless and enchanting. And to think that, without such words, we would become dazzled only by the happy accident itself.
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