Serendipity and Zemblanity: Twin Poles

History recounts various people who've made accidental discoveries. Did their revelations come through luck or divine inspiration? Serendipity, according to Cambridge English Dictionary is "the fact of finding interesting or valuable things by chance". The term was coined by Horace Walpole in 1974, taken from a fairytale "The Three Princes of Serendip" in which "the heroes were always making discoveries of things they weren't in search of". "Luck is a fundamental part of how the world works" according to Thor Muller and Lane Becker, co-authors of "Get Lucky, How to Put Planned Serendipity to Work for You and Your Business". If by definition, serendipity happens accidentally can you really plan for it? Mueller and Becker give eight suggestions for putting serendipity to work for you. 1. Motion. Maximize physical and conceptual movement in your workspace. 2. Preparation. Focus on breeding and feeding obsessive curiosity. 3. Divergence. Minimize fixed plans and goals to allow for changing circumstances. 4. Commitment. Choose from all your options the right ones to focus on. 5. Activation. Create new activities to open up your awareness of all the possibilities. 6. Connection. Optimize the number and quality of connections with others. 7. Permeability. Replace the rigid walls most organizations put up to keep themselves separate from other people and organizations with an open exchange of information. 8. Attraction. Project your purpose out into the world to draw the best and most valuable events, people, ideas and opportunities toward you. Plato claimed "science is nothing but perception". Many scientific discoveries like X-rays, the microwave oven, Velcro, penicillin, and even Viagra were discovered serendipitously. These scientists / inventors have one thing in common...they were able to discern significant matters others ignored. Royston Roberts, Author of "Serendipity, Accidental Discoveries in Science" claims "various discoveries require a degree of genius, but also some lucky element for that genius to act on". Perhaps we need luck, chance, and divine inspiration to capture serendipitous ideas! The opposite of serendipity is zemblanity, a term coined by author, William Boyd in "Armadillo". It means "the faculty of making unhappy, unlucky, and expected discoveries by design". He claims "serendipity and zemblanity are the twin poles of the axis around which we revolve". Which end of the spectrum are you on? Tune in to your inner voice and the signs around you to see serendipity occur more frequently in your life!

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Metaphysics is not something I produce, it's something that produces a change in me and my clients. Astrology charts are maps that require skilled interpretation. The Tarot also works as a meta-objective tool that delivers information to be understood by an adept reader. I utilize these tools along with intuitive guidance to understand life's situations. I consider myself nothing less than a skilled translator in human conditions, for better or worse. When you experience my work, I think you'll agree. Contact me at JenMink.com.