Serendipity/ Synchronicity

[Jeanne]

Have you noticed that when you really focus on a project, new sources of information appear, as if by magic? Jung called it Synchroicity, Amy Tan calls it Serendipity. I call it a happy coincidence that occurs because I am interested, curious, and paying attention. Have you received useful information from unexpected sources when you are immersed in a project? Here is a link to a 7-minute audio piece, "Serendipity" by Amy Tan:
http://narrativemagazine.com/issues/w...

[C.]

I believe Shakespeare said, "Everything is ready if the mind be so."

[Jeanne]

Hello C.,

Wonderful quotation! Do you know if it is from a SS play? I looked for it but didn't find it.

[Yoby]

C. wrote: "I believe Shakespeare said, "Everything is ready if the mind be so." "

I love that one. Going to put it on my Facebook status.

[Taylorcj]

"Serendipity" is unofficially a major component of library science. Librarians consistently find relevant information accidentally by browsing shelves. I strongly recommend looking through the shelves at your library or bookstore for great ideas, new topics, and helpful research!

[C.]

I wish I could remember where he wrote that quote, but it has been sometime since I stumbled upon it and really can't answer your question.

I'll find it along the way again and when I do I'll post the source.

[Paul]

Henry V, Act IV, Scene III:

Before the battle of Agincourt, the King speaking to the Earl of Westmoreland.

King: All things are ready, if our minds be so.

[C.]

Paul wrote: "Henry V, Act IV, Scene III:

Before the battle of Agincourt, the King speaking to the Earl of Westmoreland.

King: All things are ready, if our minds be so."

Yeah! Thanks for stepping up and saving me all that looking. Very grateful also that you quoted the bard correctly--not like me!

[Stirling]

That was extremely good. Thanks for sharing the link to that. I found the whole "Narrative Magazine" website interesting, too.

[Yoby]

Now, have to go back and correct the quotation and take off the question mark I put after shakespeare.

[Jeanne]

Hi Stirling,
I'm glad that you enjoyed listening to the Amy Tan piece. I liked it very much. In speaking of connections that come together in mysterious ways, Amy said, "If I needed expert advice in something, an expert would show up." ("On Serendipity", Amy Tan)
Then as we were struggling with the Shakespeare quotation (actually, you were very close, C.) -- Paul appeared! Thanks Paul!

[Jeanne]

Taylorcj,

Serendipity, (unofficially) a major component of library science? This is terrific! Browsing library and book store shelves (in my family, we call it 'grazing') causes ideas to merge or expand. It (browsing/grazing) should be classified as an Art.

[Yoby]

Jeanne wrote: "Taylorcj,

Serendipity, (unofficially) a major component of library science? This is terrific! Browsing library and book store shelves (in my family, we call it 'grazing') causes ideas to merg..."

Then I'm an artist. Do you know they teach the art of browsing a book in schools now? To read the back, table of contents, scan the indes, read something out of the front , middle and end?

I do that automatically, always have (except I read the end, then the middle, then the front - drives my husband bats)

But I do bookshelves the same way.

Or many bookstores now have employee pickes, and at my favorite stores, I have my favorite clerks, and always scan their picks. (Like the guy who loves Dante so much he went to Italy to hear some lecturers lecture in Italian while quoting out of the original Italian. Did I mention My Dante Shelf [and my Augustine, and my Blake, and my Aquinas - booksellers are like drug dealers, maybe it's best not to hang around them too much.:])

[[deleted user]]

Jeanne wrote: "Have you noticed that when you really focus on a project, new sources of information appear, as if by magic? Jung called it Synchroicity, Amy Tan calls it Serendipity. I call it a happy coinciden..."

What a wonderful topic. I listened to the Any Tan clip on synchronicity.
Someone once said that our chosen line of education forms our perspective on the world.

As Amy Tan talks, I see all the reading I did as a kid formed a sensibility that, outside of writing, has been hard to explain, to someone not of the same mind. Amy Tan talks about chaos and how searching pulls it all together, gives it a cohesiveness. Chaos can be in the form of writing a story and pulling all the parts together, or chaos can be in the isolation of a omnivorous and eclectic reader. Its helpful to find balance by getting out and living, and by finding others of a similar mind.

And regarding book shelves, and 'grazing', they make a home. I love perusing others books. But thats a whole 'nother topic :-)