Wishing well to our fellow humans is a noble – if somewhat uninspired – endeavour. Health is a priority, ça va sans dire. Money? Don’t mind if I do. All the things you can desire? Fine, but isn’t it too vague and greedy? Can you genuinely say that you want all of the things that you desire? Where would you put them?
Life is so predictable in its unpredictability. The only linear path is the one from the cradle to the grave and, even in that case, going from A to B implies driving the scenic route, alongside C, D, X, Y, Z.
If life has to be unpredictable, at least let it be full of serendipity as well.
Serendipity – what a great word and concept: an unplanned fortunate discovery, tripping over a gold nugget, looking for an old receipt in your last-season handbag, but unearthing a twenty-euro note, and a still perfectly edible Bounty bar.
The word Serendipity was coined by Horace Walpole (1717-97), fourth Earl of Orford, son of Prime Minister Robert Walpole, connoisseur, antiquarian and author of the famous gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto (London, 1765), in a letter, written on January 28, 1754:
(…) serendipity, a very expressive word, which as I have nothing better to tell you, I shall endeavour to explain to you: you will understand it better by the derivation than by the definition. I once read a silly fairy tale called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of (…).
Read more in the erudite essay below:
https://quotebanq.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/3-Princes-of-Serendip.pdf
That’s what I wish for myself: to make discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things I wasn’t looking for, and to be perceptive and alert enough to notice a new pattern, to see things from a different point of view, to be able to understand more deeply and thoroughly.
And the same I wish for all of you, kind readers. Because, if we can’t always get what we want, we might just find we get what we need.
Happy New Year! I didn't know that Walpole had invented the world serendipity, so the year ends on a discovery for me. Thank you!