A wise old man once told me that the best teaching is incidental. The other day I came across some of these ‘incidental’ lyrics by the Eagles, and shared them with him;
‘Take it easy… Don’t even try to understand…’
He really hates the Eagles but liked my Serendipity. He swore that if I ever quote an Eagles song again he will sing along to it, understand the serendipity then shoot me in the face in Tesco’s. Oops!
‘Serendip is the ancient name for Ceylon [now Sri Lanka], and Horace Walpole, fascinated by the old original folk-tale about its Three Princes, coined the word Serendipity to describe the happy process of finding unlooked-for rewards whilst steadfastly pursuing a quest.’
– Elizabeth Jamison Hodges, The Three Princes of Serendip.
Although he’d often lectured me ‘It’s not in a book!’, I was curious to know more about the tale, and managed to find a copy of this wonderful story when I saw that I could shop at Oxfam online. Serendipity is the faculty of making fortunate discoveries ‘by accident’, though there are no accidents, and coincidences happen more often than most people realise, but we may only recognise them with hindsight.
Such as when I was very young and went with my family to visit Aunt Ettie. Whilst the grown-ups were talking I wandered over to her wonderful display cabinet which held, amongst other things, a collection of delightful small china animals. Noticing my interest, she generously let me pick one to take home. I chose a little blue rabbit. Many years later, I learned my Chinese totem is also a Blue Rabbit!
More recently I discovered another startling coincidence when intrigued by Feng-Shui or Wind-Water, Chinese geomancy. Wind and water have the same patterns of flow as Qi energy, and the ancient Form branch is determined by the shape of the environment or surroundings, Yin–Yang polarity, Wu Xing Five Element Theory, and the Five Celestial Animals which protect the cardinal directions. When I stood and looked around the room, I was amazed to find that every one of these was already in place, protecting me…
- a birthday card I cross-stitched of a green dragon sits on the wooden shelves of the bookcase to the east, for the Green Dragon in the East, Spring and the element Wood;
- a red robin solar illuminated garden ornament perches on the floor near the fireplace to the south, for the Red Bird in the South, Summer and Fire;
- the west is where the white and black striped Kitten car is garaged, for the White Tiger in the West, Autumn and Metal. I also realised that on the drive outside sat the other Kitten, nicknamed ‘Tiger’ as it was originally yellow with black stripes, and the white Siberian Tiger Muscari flower in a plant pot;
- a grey and black tortoise solar light sits on the kitchen table to the north, for the Black Tortoise in the North, Winter and Water;
- and even in the centre of the room, from a china bonsai pot, pokes up a yellow-orange earthworm of clay to indicate when the plant needs watering, for the Yellow Snake in the Centre (which represents China), Late Summer and Earth!
My sagacious friend explained there are subtle messages in everything we see, hear and do. That these should be acknowledged because that’s how you know where the path is. He had received a beautiful solstice blessing card with a relevant verse, and when he went to find it for me it was on the top of his memory box waiting for him;
‘Nature is always hinting at us.
It hints over and over again.
And suddenly we take the hint.’
– Robert Frost
On another occasion I was struggling to stay awake, though the darker colder days didn’t help, and wondered whether maybe we should all just hibernate. He replied with one of his eternal pearls of wisdom; as a beautiful autumn unfolds and the snow begins to fall, he remembers that he is not a bear, but knows that he needs to settle and conserve energy that he will need for the spring. That too many blame the weather for the loss of control that their knowing mind feels. He just remembers that he is an animal who is taking the hint.
Earlier one autumn a few years ago, for my birthday my husband and I went down to the Roaches for a walk along the heather ridge. We started at Hen Cloud and after hunting round for a while, found the line of a narrow trail uphill through the dead bracken. Though the ascent wasn’t very high, it was rather steep. I’m not a fan of exposed slopes, but set off upwards on the dry gritty path, made it past the sharp broken stems of faded orange, and onto the higher grassy ramp between rock outcrops. Up and up I climbed, holding onto clumps of vegetation as I went, and not looking anywhere but skyward where I was heading. If I go at a fair rate, and as long as I don’t stop, adrenalin usually sees me to the top, but I was running out of steam and had to pause.
I stood there clinging on, almost within reach of the top, resting my shaking legs. When from the long grass, just to the side of my left hand, there came a chirp and out popped a tiny grasshopper. It sat there for a while and we watched each other, then it disappeared back into the undergrowth. My namesake had completely distracted me just when I needed it most, and I was able to finish the climb easily with renewed energy and strength, and enjoy the rest of the walk.
Later on that warm day, further along the ridge where a small road crosses, we were drawing near the lay-by when there came the familiar jingling sound of an approaching ice-cream van. A most welcome and timely birthday treat. There was no-one else around, so after serving us he drove off again in search of other custom, but our paths had crossed for that one opportune moment.
[The photograph above is of a different grasshopper, one that came to say hello on our Pearl Wedding Anniversary walk up Oyster Clough, three years later!]
The wise man remarked it was a lovely thing for me to be taught about the interconnectedness of things via a grasshopper. That he had to suffer that lesson via a butterfly and a very sedate heron whilst moving without knowing how; he once stood on some grass in a posture – a fly landed and stayed on his hand, a butterfly parked and stayed near his feet and a heron came for a browse. No fear, just wonderment, acceptance and beauty.
Whether you call it fate, destiny, fortuitous circumstance or divine providence, things happen as Nature requires in order to evolve, and everything we need to further this will always be to hand. Chance, luck or accidents are labels we attach to the unfolding design, Nature’s hints are signposts to guide us through this universal scheme, and stumbling across the tools provided to assist us is Serendipity.
