Serendipity

I remember when, as a little girl, my mom introduced me to the word "serendipity." We were on a vacation and our plans changed due to the weather, so we had to find something else to do. She called this adjustment to our plan, "serendipity."

I immediately loved the way it sounded. A word like that had to mean something fun was about to happen!

The Webster's definition of serendipity is, "the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way."

I'm on vacation right now with my middle-school-aged children and my husband. We have been hiking in the Redwood Forest near the California Oregon border and in Yosemite National Park. The only plans we made were where we would sleep each night. Otherwise, it has been all serendipity.

We have discovered the best little local restaurants, darling ice cream shops, forests carpeted in clover, beautiful streams for wading, trees so big that a group hug only reached halfway around, lush groves of bright green ferns, balance beams of downed trees, cascading waterfalls, and perfect rocks to sit upon for a deep conversation.

These vacation memories have occurred by chance and have certainly been happy and beneficial for our family. I love that every day has been full of serendipity!

This has me thinking about making more space for serendipity in my life at home. Rather than schedule every moment of my day, I hope I can remember to leave more space to allow for discovery, creativity, and serendipities.

This week, I invite you to think about serendipity in your own life. Where have you experienced serendipity this summer? How could you create space for serendipity before summer ends?

Going forward, let's remind one another that the best life memories often come in serendipities.

And if you are like me and wondering where the word serendipity originated, here is what Google had to say:
In 1754 the term was coined by Horace Walpole, as suggested by The Three Princes of Serendip, the title of a fairy tale in which the heroes ‘were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of’.

Thank you Horace, we love this word and we love discovering things we were not in quest of. Hmmm, discovering something other than we are seeking, there is some deep spiritual thinking there....but it is my last day of vacation and I'm off to play with my kids while I can. More on that topic later...

Sending you love,