"Simply put, Serendipity is the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. " I think I can say that this is how I met my husband--and we have now been married over 50 years.
My first exposure to this concept was when I watched Connections (British TV series) back in the day. Lots of historic examples of serendipity.
In my personal life I noticed serendipity play a role when the follow conditions are met:
There are a number of presuppositions that underlie the concept of serendipity:
The concept of "luck". But generally speaking this is about being open to new possibilities in the first place.
The interconnectedness of events or meaningful coincidence. Our unconscious minds are constantly making connections and patterns that our conscious minds are not aware of. These unconscious connections can lead to serendipitous discoveries. Being aware of how our brains in the background are making these connections and so priming your brain for that can allow some of that interconnected discoveries to rise to the conscious mind.
Related to the above is intuition, that is, understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. Kind of like a mental shortcut. Sometimes it's a 'gut feeling' and sometimes a Eureka moment. When you are open and ready for new experiences your intuition is likely to be more attuned.
How we respond to failure. Like with the above example from the show Connections, a lot of genius inventors went from initial failures to serendipitous discoveries. When we fail, we are forced to think about things in new ways and to explore new possibilities. From failure to serendipity is the importance of perseverance.
The role of other people. Serendipity can occur in isolation, but I find it is more likely to happen in communities where people share ideas, experiences and collaborate. When people share they create a network of connections that can lead to serendipitous discoveries.
In those times in my life when I have activated most or all of the above I have had a lot of serendipity.
I wonder if religious people tend to report more serendipity compared to secular people?
It’s fun going down those rabbit holes of serendipity. Even in our conversations, thinking “How did we get here?!” And retracing how each topic built upon the other. 1 minute you’re talking about hunting scopes, and the next it’s brain eating amoebas in cat poop. With the multiple layers of serendipity it really makes you think your life has the ability to change course infinitely. The cake sounds good!
I made the cake with the frosting. My family loved it. My wife have the rec to add a little plain yogurt to the cake mix etc to make the whole deal even more moist. In her family, they make a Jewish Bundt cake along these lines. The results are also very delicious!!!
"Simply put, Serendipity is the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. " I think I can say that this is how I met my husband--and we have now been married over 50 years.
And now I'm here!
My first exposure to this concept was when I watched Connections (British TV series) back in the day. Lots of historic examples of serendipity.
In my personal life I noticed serendipity play a role when the follow conditions are met:
There are a number of presuppositions that underlie the concept of serendipity:
The concept of "luck". But generally speaking this is about being open to new possibilities in the first place.
The interconnectedness of events or meaningful coincidence. Our unconscious minds are constantly making connections and patterns that our conscious minds are not aware of. These unconscious connections can lead to serendipitous discoveries. Being aware of how our brains in the background are making these connections and so priming your brain for that can allow some of that interconnected discoveries to rise to the conscious mind.
Related to the above is intuition, that is, understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. Kind of like a mental shortcut. Sometimes it's a 'gut feeling' and sometimes a Eureka moment. When you are open and ready for new experiences your intuition is likely to be more attuned.
How we respond to failure. Like with the above example from the show Connections, a lot of genius inventors went from initial failures to serendipitous discoveries. When we fail, we are forced to think about things in new ways and to explore new possibilities. From failure to serendipity is the importance of perseverance.
The role of other people. Serendipity can occur in isolation, but I find it is more likely to happen in communities where people share ideas, experiences and collaborate. When people share they create a network of connections that can lead to serendipitous discoveries.
In those times in my life when I have activated most or all of the above I have had a lot of serendipity.
I wonder if religious people tend to report more serendipity compared to secular people?
Great points and well put.
It’s fun going down those rabbit holes of serendipity. Even in our conversations, thinking “How did we get here?!” And retracing how each topic built upon the other. 1 minute you’re talking about hunting scopes, and the next it’s brain eating amoebas in cat poop. With the multiple layers of serendipity it really makes you think your life has the ability to change course infinitely. The cake sounds good!
Yeah, the number of time we've been like "how did we get here?" in the conversation. Cake is great. I should make it for you.
I made the cake with the frosting. My family loved it. My wife have the rec to add a little plain yogurt to the cake mix etc to make the whole deal even more moist. In her family, they make a Jewish Bundt cake along these lines. The results are also very delicious!!!
Hmmm. Yogurt could be a good add!
Interestingly, I have written both about serendipity AND a recipe for food very recently!
Being open to such surprises is important.
Try making it and let me know what you think. It's super easy!
I'll never say never, but let me just say instead: I'm not much of a baker.
Luckily you don't need to be. It's super easy!