Five Ways to Curate Serendipity
Hard work and luck are oftentimes intertwined to create the perfect recipe for a successful, creative, and happy life.
Serendipity defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for,” differs from the pure luck of finding random coins in the street, for instance, since it involves three quintessential components: recognition, a valuable or agreeable discovery, and a delightful surprise.
Even when I did not recognize all the serendipitous events, there was discovery, delight, and surprise when running into friends whom I have not seen in a long time. At first, I didn’t think much of it — other than pure coincidence, or chance, but after seeing the movie Serendipity, which was a sweet reminder of the magic of life and love, I started to pay closer attention to the voice of serendipity, as Drew Boyd, professor of marketing, describes it in his Psychology Today article. Boyd points out that once we acquiesce the magic of serendipity, we will recognize the repeating patterns.
When I was 22 years old serendipity dramatically changed my life
My most serendipitous moment that has changed my life forever was being the personal interpreter of world-renowned SF author Joe Haldeman at the World Science Fiction Convention held in Timisoara, Romania, where I was a student majoring in English. Since I admired everything American at the time, I really wanted to be the interpreter of an American writer. That happened to be the smart, funny, and amazing Joe Haldeman and his lovely, sweet, and smart wife Gay. From the moment that I had picked them up from the airport, it was love at first sight, as my American friends pointed out. They also joke and say that they are my adoptive parents, after they had invited my boyfriend and my now husband and I to America when I was 22 years old.
We have lived and prospered living in Sacramento, CA for the last 26 years, all because of the serendipitous SF Convention and my being their interpreter, instead of being assigned to a British or Italian writer, for instance, which might have kept me in Romania, instead of living in America, our true home — with so many dreams achieved and fulfilled.
When serendipity meets creativity
Another serendipitous moment happened this June when I told my friend Deirdre that we were going to Montana for two weeks. She replied back saying that her family was also going to be in Montana the same week like us. We both marveled at this coincidence. I texted back saying that hopefully we get to meet there, but we weren’t sure how close we would be to each other. Once we arrived in Big Sky, MT, I texted Deirdre some pictures of the lake and the mountains as seen from our balcony. After a few text message exchanges, we realized that we were an hour away from each other, so we decided to meet half way to run together the following morning. My husband, being the great map guy that he is, found us a nice meandering trail by the Gallatin River, and our run was on.
“I seriously love how adventurous you are,” my friend Deirdre, who is the amazing host of Dying to Ask Podcast, my very favorite podcast, texted me back.
I was excited to run together, as we have not found the right time in Sacramento for about three months, but here we were running in Montana on a gravel road by the Gallatin River, laughing, cracking up jokes, catching up, talking about our kids, our dreams, our past, and future.
As my friend Deirdre pointed out, it is great to say “yes” more often.
I could not agree more with Deirdre’s remark. Moreover, our run together in Montana, was not only serendipitous, but it was also creative, since here I am writing this article.
Serendipity can make us more creative
According to Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Ph.D., author of the article Creativity and Serendipity: Making the Unexpected Happen, “for creative serendipity to happen, we need to expect the unexpected. A mind prepared to take advantage of opportunities will help and social supports will make it possible. Creativity and serendipity both require us to take action and work with the unexpected. Dare to take an unexpected turn. When we do, the result is better than what we could have expected.”
I would add that both my creativity and serendipity have increased when I became a runner in 2015. For instance, my senses have sharpened, my intuition has become more precise, my premonitions more concrete, and my acting upon these serendipitous moments more actionable. Additionally, after this serendipitous run with my wonderful friend Deirdre, I realized that whether we are runners or not, great observers of life or not, we can increase our happiness by honing these five ways to increase our serendipity in our lives:
- Be open to new experiences, which means trying new things and adventures. This also means eliminating the phrase “this is not me” from your vocabulary, as the new you could be in a place, time, and space that you might not expect.
- Say “yes” more often, as it can lead to new experiences and lessons that cannot be learned when we keep making excuses, or embracing the demoralizing no. My family and I have recently watched The Yes Day movie about a family that learns to reconnect by having a yes day. Their kids choose their favorite activities and the parents have to accept with a few rules in place. We loved the concept and the idea of the movie, and, of course, our daughter Sophia loved it even more.
- Suspend judgment and overthinking. What if? Why should I? Why do this? Why be silly? Why take a risk? Why go out of my way? These are all questions that stifle our creativity, as well as our sense of wonder and wander. I personally jump sometimes a little too fast, such as when I decided to sign up for my first marathon as a brand new runner, but I am so glad that I did it, as my leap of faith and lack of overthinking had transformed me into the person that I am today, unleashing my athletic and creative powers.
- Travel to discover the unexpected . I have zero issues adopting this way of living, as my husband and I have purchased our timeshare in our 20s before we had even bought our first house. Traveling is essential and quintessential to us! Moreover, “serendipity is the act of finding something valuable or delightful when you are not looking for it,” according to Paula McInerney.
- Go with the Flow. When my friend Deirdre, her husband, and I ran by the river, we all matched the flow of the river. We were in a state of flow. Words and idea flowed freely. Our feet followed the path. We rejoiced in the process of putting one foot in front of the other. We ran. We smiled. We laughed. We enjoyed running in Montana, far away from home, work, and responsibilities.
To sum things up: serendipity is the river flowing right in front of us. All we have to do is travel more with a renewed sense of curiosity, as well as say “yes” more often to become happier, more creative, and more successful in life.
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