Serendipity is when you find something you didn’t know you were looking for.
In my previous life, as a digital guru, I always told my clients that the most powerful viral effects came from showing, telling, and informing people about things they didn’t know they wanted to know. The “telling people about things they didn’t know they wanted to know” part has surprise elements in it that I adore, and that makes the concept so much more creative.
Missed serendipity due to being too pre-occupied
I only recently found out that the word “serendipity” was somewhat like it. And yesterday, by chance, I got to explore serendipity a bit more. I rocked out with my awesome family at my grandmother’s birthday party. I saw how my daughter, at one point, closed down all her opportunities for “in real life serendipity” because she was playing around with her iPad. When we got home, we talked about a story my uncle had told at the party that she couldn’t remember because she wasn’t mentally present when he told it.
My mother found an old article in an old newspaper from 1985. My uncle was featured on it for becoming “Dansk mester” in handball, together with the rest of the Helsingør team. There was a picture attached to the article where my uncle looked completely 80s stunning (too-small shorts and all). She also missed the awesome story about how my grandmother met the whole team. They were going home from partying in the city early in the morning. Or the fact that some of the fathers of some of her favorite handball players today were in that picture.
Serendipity calls for exploration
Sometimes we miss out on things because we aren’t alert or present. Sometimes we see new things in old patterns. Maybe we are not world-explorers enough to allow enough room for serendipity, both online and/or offline. Sometimes we read the same blogs or newspapers or follow the same people on social media, not exploring enough.
For serendipity to grow, we have to make room for it so we can become inspired by unknown sources that could become real treasures and sometimes even change our entire world perspective!