Diving beneath the surface with strangers

Ever wondered where the word serendipity came from?

The three princes of Serendip, according to Horace Walpole (1754), travelled the world ‘making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of…’.

It’s been a week of serendipity as I’ve ventured further afield since the end of lockdown. I’ve made discoveries in conversations and interactions with total strangers in unexpected places.

The traffic lights on our bikes.

The queue at our local swimming pool

The local bar that once again opened its doors.

It feels like I’ve grazed from a buffet of soul food. We dived beneath the surface, as we spoke behind our masks. We’ve mused about:

🏄🏼‍♀‍ What sharing the road in a city can teach us about sharing the waves in the surf, and sharing our space in the world. Truly. A five-minute conversation with a Canadian cyclist at the traffic lights on Smith Street.

🧠 The intractable problems that get solved when swimming laps. Consistently. Whether you swim in the fast, medium or slow lane. And why more of us don’t ‘move’ when we’re mentally jammed up.

🎼 How to curate the perfect playlist with a frantic local bar owner. Corks popping, tables heaving under glasses, and she still creates an experience for us

I’ve loved these serendipitous moments with strangers. Even though I’m on my home turf, I feel like I’m 23 again, travelling the world with my backpack, having chance conversations which lead to accidental discoveries, a bit like those Princes of Serendip.

I might introduce these Princes at my next workshop. I wonder what their appearance fee is.

PS. I help people wonder about what’s possible – in a group or 1:1. If that sounds like you, let’s have a chat.