Serendipity

We all know about serendipity -- that fortuitous happening at just the right moment.  It takes countless forms:

The tax refund that shows up the day after the huge car repair bill.

The job opening that appears out of nowhere right when you're thinking about quitting your current job.

Happening to sit across the aisle from the person who will one day be your spouse.

For Creatives, serendipity comes in small packages, too -- it's not just the Earth-shattering events.  I had just such an event happen to me recently.

As a good Creative, I always carry around a pen and pocket notebook with me.  I've learned that I never know when I'll have a good idea or come across some important fact I'll want to save for later.  A week or two ago, I was out driving and when I pulled up to the stop light, I glanced over at the sign at the gas station.  I don't know what they were trying to say on it, but the majority of the letters had either been removed or blown away, leaving just six letters: ILEINE.  I found this funny, and the fact that I noticed it seemed somehow oddly important.  I couldn't tell you why I thought those letters were important, but I dutifully copied them down in my notebook before the light turned green.

Yesterday, I was working on the rough draft of a new novel (the third in The Sadonian Chronicles), and all of a sudden, a character appeared.  As happens frequently, these characters are not someone I had foreseen being part of the story; they just sort of "show up" and demand to be heard.  And as soon as she showed up, I knew exactly who she was: Ileine.  (If you want to know how to pronounce it, you'll have to wait until the book comes out -- until then, good luck.)

Now, would this character have appeared had I not seen the sign at the gas station?  Of course she would have.  She would have shown up one way or another, and I would have come up with a name for her and sent her on her way.  As it was, as soon as I saw her, I knew why that gas station sign had been important, and now, I feel that I didn't just give her a name, I gave her the right name.

Serendipity is noticing those small moments, those instants that might otherwise seem insignificant ... except they're really not.  As you go about your day today, look for those things that seem just a bit out of the ordinary, like maybe, just maybe, they were put there for you to find.  Most big discoveries didn't come like thunderbolts, but rather small ideas that were noticed as something special, then grown and cultivated to be the amazing things they were destined to be.

Look for serendipity all around you.  You may just be surprised by what you see!