Day 29 - Serendipities and Intuition

Serendipity.

It's a word I've been hearing often lately, including last night, which gave me pause to reflect on this word.

After Googling the word, which means "the aptitude of making fortunate discoveries by accident", I got down to the origin:

"Word History: We are indebted to the English author Horace Walpole for the word serendipity, which he coined in one of the 3,000 or more letters on which his literary reputation primarily rests. In a letter of January 28, 1754, Walpole says that "this discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word." Walpole formed the word on an old name for Sri Lanka, Serendip. He explained that this name was part of the title of "a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of...."

Well, thank you, Mr. Walpole and Sri Lanka, for that delightful word. Never mind that I then had to look up the definition of sagacity. This sleep-deprived, and creative brain of mine has no room for such trivia.

Often, we do not have the sagacity to make discoveries that are fortunate, and can have a major impact on the direction of our lives. (See how I turned right around and used the word "sagacity" in a sentence? My 3rd grade teacher would be so proud.)

But I digress. We save that business card for "someday when I'm ready", instead of recognizing the moment to start the conversation is now. Or, we shrug off a geniune offer to help, thinking we do not want to impose on someone else to make our dreams come true.

When we trust our intuition, and shut off our minds before we overthink it, perhaps jumping in before we're ready, we allow the serendipities to occur.

I recently watched the romantic comedy, "Serendipity", with Kate Beckensale and John Cusak. This movie drove me nuts. Beckensale's character, Sara, refuses to give John's character, Jonathan, her name or number, and decides to leave their future to fate.

Sara asks Jonathan to write his name and phone number on a $5 bill, while she writes her name and number on the inside cover of a book. If they are meant to be together, she tells him, he will find the book and she will find the $5 bill, and they will find their way back to each other.

Really, Sara? The whole movie is wasted on other characters and romantic interests, and you have to wait the whole movie for them to reunite. Meanwhile, several years of their life together are wasted.

I wanted to scream, "Sara! Recognize fate when it slaps you in the face the first time, sugar!" But, that would have scared the cat off my lap, resulting in deep scars on my thighs, so I just suffered through the whole movie. (Not to mention that poor Bridget Moynihan plays Jonathan's soon-to-be ex-fiance. Talk about the foreshadowing of her real life with QB stud, Tom Brady, or what?!)

In business, as in love, you must learn to trust your intuition, and recognize when "fate" is handing you an opportunity. If I took the time to list all the serendipitous occasions that have occurred since I started launching Fresh, I'd be here all day. So I'll just tell you about last night.

I went to Tara Sage Steeves' Dreaming Out Loud workshop, at Lotus Rising in Fall River, MA. It was hosted by Maureen Umehara of WCSWANS. (Links to come) Before the dreaming exercises began, the woman sitting next to me introduced herself as Jennifer, and shared that she wanted to work for herself someday. Without wanting to be too eager to share I just wrote a book on how to start a business, I made a note to tell her this later.

During the course of the evening, I also learned that she wanted to write a novel and start a better fitness and nutrition routine. At this point, I could not contain myself, I had to invite her to join the ShapeUpRI.com team that some writer friends and I had just created to move our bodies and move our writing along! As it turns out, our walking path goes right by her house, and she joyfully accepted the invitation. It was just meant to be. She recognized the serendipity to receive instantaneous support of her goals, and pointed it out to the workshop group.

As it turns out, Jennifer is going through a divorce. I smiled and offered to throw her Divorce Party under Fresh, and again tried not to be too eager in the offer. It is, after all, a sensitive topic, and some women may not feel like throwing a party when the divorce is final. But I think a good party is the solution to everything, so I'm in the perfect industry for me right now!

Let's raise our glasses in a toast to serendipity! (The concept. Not the movie.) A toast to Jennifer, Tara and Maureen, while we're at it, for a completely enjoyable evening together. I'm glad we all had the sagacity to be there together. ;-)