Serendipity

def: "Making fortunate discoveries by accident."

Probably everyone has experienced this. You know how it goes; you are searching for one thing and suddenly something completely different and unexpected pops up in front of you. And it's fantastic! Or sometimes when you aren't looking, some wonderful thing all of sudden appears. Sometimes it's small and sometimes it's big. The important thing is that you realize that it's right there, in front of you.

A very memorable serendipidous event happened to me in 1994. On a Friday morning, I packed up my bags, my tent, and a case of beer, and headed to a secluded campground in the thumb area of Michigan for a girlie weekend with my sister and long-time gal-pals. After a night of way too many alcoholic indulgences, we crawled out of our tents, terribly hungover, and went on a hunt for a farmer's market that we'd heard from the campground owners was nearby. The gravel roads we travelled were often unmarked, and we found ourselves seemingly in the middle of nowhere, with no farmer's market in sight. Suddenly, a huge iron dragon came into view: it sat in front of a hill, 30-feet in height, with perfectly-welded scales, metal claws attached to upright forearms, and a long curly silver tongue thrusting from a huge gaping dragon mouth. Of course we all walked toward it (what WAS it doing in front of a hill in the middle of nowhere?). And then, without warning, a door opened right out of the grassy hill. A DOOR! A smiling woman came out, explaining that her husband, a metal artist, built the dragon and would we like to come in her house and see her pottery studio? It was too magical to refuse, so we followed the woman into the "house." This house was built into the berm, totally unseen from the road and covered with grass. It was a geodesic-dome style house, with hand-made mosaic countertops and stained-glass windows. And, a pristine vintage cherry-red 1966 VW bug Volkwagen in the garage. The owners were lovely and sweet, and we spent an hour chatting and marveling over their house. I remember we left being overwhelmed at the surprise "find", and to this day the four of us still talk about our serendipitous find on that beer-filled camping trip all those years ago.

How did this happen? Was it because 4 women, who shared a love and history that was almost magical, came together and caused some kind of serendipitous energy? Yes, I think so.

Some people just bring that energy into our lives. Those special people help us realize that wonderful and unexpected experiences are right outside our door and are available everyday if we just look for them, and we shouldn't be afraid to realize what we've just seen.

It happened again to me just this weekend, with a man who has helped me see just what beautiful and amazing things are waiting for all of us every single minute of our lives. We saw 20 minutes of surprise fireworks (right outside my kitchen window) and a parade of 500 motorcycles vrooming downtown, whose riders threw candy and toys to little kids on the street. And we thought we were just going to leave the restaurant and drive home! Instead, a wonderful event unfolded right in front of us.

So, watch carefully when seredipity appears magically in front of you. Stay close to the loved ones who help you realize that it can happen every day. And watch carefully, because an iron dragon or a parade may appear right in front of you when you least expect it.