Serendipity

Something I’ve relished these past months about not being bound to a corporate job is that it’s naturally allowed space for me to explore thoughts that seem interesting.

I mentioned in my previous post that Seth Godin featured large in 2019 for me. Participating in his altMBA was such a life-affirming experience.

The basic structure is: read a prompt – discuss in a small group – post your response – comment on the work of others with empathy and generosity. And on one of those posts, a classmate left this comment: “I was introduced to a concept by my teammate yesterday called purposeful curiosity from a book called Working Out Loud.”

Interesting, I thought. I noted it down as yet another resource to explore once the workshop was over. (It was life-affirming and intense.)

If I were still in a corporate job, I suspect from past experience that that scribbled note from over 4 months ago would still be languishing in my notebook.

Instead, I looked it up, ordered the book, actually read it, and then thought: time to start a Working Out Loud Circle. I roped in my husband and my sister and we completed the 12-week cycle just before the end of last year.

There are so many things I love about what John Stepper has gifted to the world with his compassionate, actionable, step-by-step approach. If Seth Godin planted the seed in my brain for this blog, then John Stepper nurtured it beautifully. To the point that I am actually typing that I want Working Out Loud to become a habit for me this year.

As I prepare to go back to working in an office in the coming months, I will intentionally carve out space for my brain to wonder freely. For unplanned fortunate discoveries.

How are you inviting serendipity into your life?