Serendipity: Such A Lovely Word

Serendipity…such a lovely word. They even made a movie of that name, one that I really ought to watch if only to see whether they have done justice to the word.

The first time I encountered the word, I did a “seren…what?”

Serendipitous I believe was how it was used, the adjective: “Occurring or discovered by chance in a happy or beneficial way.”

Actually, a man that was sojourning with me recently said as we pulled out of a parking lot something about a “positive serendipity.” He quickly corrected himself, realizing that his statement was inaccurate. “That’s wrong,” he said, “There is only serendipity which is a positive thing. Serendipity cannot be negative!” He seemed almost angry for despoiling such a beautiful word.

There is a perfume that I love to use, not because it smells better than any other perfume ever made. I love it because of how I feel when I am wearing it. Anais Anais is the name of my favourite perfume, just in case you wanted to know. That perfume wears me. It does things to me. It makes me sashay and glide. I feel sexy, ultra sexy when I spray it behind my ears, on my wrists, over my body. My world somehow feels in order.

Image: goodlifezen.com

When the word “serendipity,” rolls off my lips that is exactly how I feel – everything is order.

Like so many of you, I have fought against life and the circumstances that it has brought me. As far back as I can recall, life felt as if it was a constant struggle, a war that I would never win. Battles here and there I won but the real big fight, the war seemed doomed from the start.

How could a girl like me win a handsome, rich man? When would my boat come in with my white picket fence life? Never it felt.

A few years after graduating from University, my degree felt like a worthless piece of paper as all the doors closed to the career that was supposedly on the horizon. Being a single mother and smack dab in the middle of the parent-young child sandwich, I was not sure what to do. Without even knowing what was happening, Serendipity stepped in. She never left me for long after that.

“There's always going to be the circumstances you can't plan for. There's always the unexpected relevance and the serendipity.” Jason Silva

It was never in my plan to get into communications. Politics was my love – was since I was old enough to climb onto a soap box and share my opinions. Circumstances had it that I would meet someone who hated politicians and especially the political party that was very much part of my journey up until my 35^th year. 

People and their concerns were always at the core of my being and so although elected politician I never became, they were never far from me for over 10+ years of my professional life.

Serendipity it was then as I launched into a fairly successful life as a public relations executive in government and the political sphere. She turned up again when circumstance took me to Canada and opened the window to fields that I would never have thought of entering – chaplaincy and criminal justice. 

It was at the crossing of those two rivers that my life changed for ever – again.

“I have never chosen my next job. I focus on what's in front of me, and serendipity steps in.” Susan Brooks

Almost twelve years after leaving her shores, there were no reasons to continue ignoring the desperate longing in my heart to return to Jamaica. I was terribly unhappy with my life in my new city of Toronto, a place that I had gone to two years prior to my decision to finally go home. A numbing kind of loneliness had set in, one that taught me to be so comfortable with my own company having been abandoned and dumped by those who promised to be different and to be my family. I knew if I did not escape my self-imposed isolation sooner rather than later, a convent or an asylum would be my next home.

Yet, Serendipity was not finished with me.

My old friend led me home but quickly started whispering to me to be careful of what I wished for. Soon, another set of false promises, lies, and outright “two-faced” attitudes – started to reveal themselves. I was at another crossroads but this time, I knew I was not alone. So after almost five months in “paradise,” in five days I made the call, bought my return ticket and was on a plane back to Edmonton, Alberta.

This time, She came as the face of my grandchild. Still in her mother’s womb, this child called to me to come “home.” My DOS Sistahs know the full version of this story, this segment of my journey. All I will say now is that it was a call that no mother could miss – even though it came via Facebook, by way of a photograph. I remember receiving the message and in an instant knew I was returning to Canada, no longer interested in waiting for the “contract,” to be signed. I left on April 19, 2013 and this might very well have been a life and death decision – for my Kitten.

There are times when it seems as if nothing is going your way but I am here to tell you that more often than not everything is in perfect order. A wise woman once said to me that it get “worsa than worse, before it starts to get better.” For me “worsa” were suicide attempts, bankruptcy, a totally shattered heart, utter betrayal and abandonment.

“Better,” has been the breath of the Divine that breathes in and through me, reminding me constantly and when I will stand still enough, that All Is Well.

Awww…Serendipity, you are Beauty Itself.

Claudette is the Founder of DOS Foundation and the Editor of this blog. You can reach her by leaving a message here or through our Facebook page.