“Serendipity: the aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.”
I always thought of serendipity as being luck based… that my only role in having a serendipitous experience was to be open to having one. Of course, intention and desire were hanging around, but I didn’t assign them a causal relationship.
This definition in the dictionary shifted the way I’m looking at our serendipitous encounters over the past few months. Our aptitude for such amazing discoveries, is born of intention, desire, openness, and presence.
We set out on this journey with a lot of details unplanned, calendars unscheduled, and routes unmapped. Our intention was for open space to allow for new possibilities and make desirable discoveries.
One of our first activities just south of Portland, was spending time with our friend Cynthia in Eugene. She shared with us about events in her life described as fortuitous serendipity. We spent some time defining both those terms for the girls. I had no idea that her theme would become one for us as well.
Our first serendipitous event happened the day after talking with Cynthia about this very concept.
The fall weather predictions were showing unusually sunny weather on the Oregon Coast, so we decided to head toward Coos Bay. I knew my friend Amber had moved to Coos Bay, and that she was working on an art and food festival of some sort, but I hadn’t talked to her much since she’d left, nor did I know much about the festival.
As we pulled into Coos Bay, I texted her to let her know we were in town, and that we’d love to see her. We were at the co-op in Coos Bay to stock up on groceries for dinner when her text reply came through. The festival was in its third day… she was on her way to a film screening (of “Biggest Little Farm”), and the screening was taking place in 30 minutes, about 3 blocks from where we were standing. I’d seen previews for the movie, and had really wanted to see it on a big screen, but had missed it when it came through Portland. Yet, here we were… 3 blocks and 30 minutes away from seeing a friend and a movie that was high on my list.
We were excited at the serendipity of it all. So we changed our dinner plans, went over to the theater, enjoyed an AMAZING movie, and then had a fun dinner afterwards with Amber. It turns out, that movie continues to have an impact on our thinking about food, connections to experiences as we travel, and relationships with Great Pyrenees dogs!
There have been so many desirable discoveries along the way… amazing museums we’d never heard of, parks that were recommended, invitations from strangers to join them or stay and learn more, waking up to find a wild animal shelter next to our campground (that gave us a tour) or that we’re parked next to a huge solar array that a friend is invested in.
My favorite serendipities usually involve other people. Recently, in Tucson we visited their amazing farmer’s market to fill the fridge with farm-to-market goodies. As we were packing up, getting ready to leave, a woman stopped by the van. She told us that she pulled an Oracle card that morning with the “Serenity” on it… and here at the market was a giant van with the name “Serenity” written on the side of it. She took it as a sign.
We invited her in for a tour, and we had a great conversation with her. Turns out, she also worked with a friend of ours from Portland! Erica is well-traveled and gave us a number of great recommendations of places to go and things to do in Arizona and New Mexico including Patagonia Lake State Park and the Chiricahua National Monument — both stops that were excellent additions to our collection.
Striking up conversations have also led to serendipities. When in the Gila Hot Springs area, we weren’t excited about the campground we’d found online. We stopped at a nearby market, where a dad and his two kids were having ice cream outside. I stopped to ask him where they were staying and what he recommended. He told us about a fabulous campground, right on the river, with beautiful, outdoor hot tub pools. It turned out to be the perfect place to stay!
Sometimes doing the things you love bring fun serendipities. In Truth or Consequences, NM I took a yoga class one evening. At the class, I met the man who owns the hotel next door to the yoga studio. We struck up a conversation, and he asked where we were staying. Not knowing who he was, I was lamenting the cost of the super cool (but super pricey) resort where we were staying and told him that we’d likely not stay in TorC long because we couldn’t find a kid-friendly, cost-effective place to stay. He immediately offered that we could park in his hotel’s parking lot, and use the hot tub facilities at the hotel.
His generous offer allowed us to stay and soak and relax and enjoy the cute town of TorC for several more days. I’m so grateful that I listened to my strong desire to get to yoga that night — otherwise, I never would have made this serendipitous encounter.
Even going out to lunch can turn into a serendipity. While making a quick stop for pizza in Dallas, the restaurant manager saw us taking an interest in reading about the history of pizza. He surprisingly invited us to tour the restaurant and learn about how Neapolitan pizza is made!
Some people are used to traveling this way. For us (over-planning Virgos) its a new way of moving through the world. It takes a lot of trust. We are practicing letting go of the need to control and know where we’re going to be or what we’re going to do to keep the space open for these possibilities to emerge.
These are the big life lessons we hoped would come out of this adventure. And while this aptitude could still be expanded, we’ve come a long way already.