Serendipity is more than just a likable movie with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale from 2001 (imdb), it also is a somewhat intractable word which suggests one having stumbled upon “good luck”, especially when one makes unexpected and fortunate discoveries. Some call it coincidence, plain luck — others call it fate, destiny, or kismet - the will of Allah. Curiously, the word “serendipity” is derived from Serendip, the ancient Persian name for Sri Lanka.

The usage of the word in modern times is directly taken from an ancient fairy tale called ‘The Three Princes of Serendip“, where the heroes of the story traveled far and wide, always making discoveries – by accidents and sagacity – of things which they were not in quest of. Great and renowned inventors and philosophers have made their way into the annals of history through serendipitous (the act of serendipiosity according to  Cusack in the film) discoveries :

• Isaac Newton’s famed apple falling from a tree, led to his musings about the nature of gravitation.
• The German chemist Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz dreamed about Ourobouros, a snake running around and forming a circle, leading to his solution of the closed chemical structure of cyclic compounds, such as benzene.
• Archimedes’ prototypical cry of Eureka when he realised that his body displacing water in the bathtub allowed him to measure the volume of any irregular body, such as a gold crown.
• Christopher Columbus was looking for a new way to India in 1492 and wound up landing in The Americas.

Credit is given nonetheless, to these historical figures in spite of the nature by which they arrived at their greatest, or most popular,  successes. Genius, by any other name, still encapsulates the ability of those people to turn unexpected discoveries into something marvellous. When it comes to verbalizing this sentiment, Albert Einstein said it best when he was quoted to say “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources!”

Serendipity, as it turns out is also known by some other name: muse, or inspiration. When you get that brilliant idea that finally closes the deal at work, when you paint that inspired painting that had been haunting youn for months, when you finally get the perfect opening paragraph for a story or novel that had seemed so lack-luster without it … that was your muse or inspiration lending a helping hand in guiding you to a much needed moment of clarity. And what of those moments when your muse abandons you ever so cruelly at the precipice of uninspired and unmotivated?

Author of best selling book “Eat, Pray, Love” Elizabeth Gilbert says that your muse just didn’t come, and it’s okay. Sometimes it shows up early, sometimes late, sometimes not until it’s beyond reason … but in the end, it always comes.  I especially like the idea that at times, your muse shows up at the most inopportune moments, upon which you have every right to say “No, not now … can’t you see I’m driving in heavy traffic?” She suggests informing your muse that unless this bit of genius can wait until you are more prepared to acknowledge and receive it (like with a pen and paper in hand rather than a steering wheel), it would be best served to find another person to annoy or inspire.

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