Do you think this is serendipitous, too?
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
serendipitous
Aliye and I were searching for a cool name for our blog and all the coolest ones were already taken. Well we tried couple Latin words without putting too much thought on them. Later coming across with the idea "Serendipitous Connectability" in Punya Mishra's blog, I was amazed by how this whole idea reflect the post-internet era. According to Punya it is "the idea that the web allows us to “to run across things that are stunning in their ability to connect to us in powerful, emotionally touching ways.” But more than that, fun part comes from exploring the etymology of the word serendipity. The word derives from Serendip which was an old Persian name for Sri Lanka (used to be called Ceylon too). The father of this word is an Englishman, Horace Walpole" who coined the word in a letter he wrote in 1754. The base was a fairy tale called "The Three Princess of Serendip" where the princes were always making discoveries by accidents and sagacity if the things they were nor looking for. As a fairy tale freak, the story reminded me One thousand and One Nights along with the folkloric elements. I was intrigued by this word immediately as i got to know the history and story of it. Looking back to my history, coming here, starting my phd, meeting all the people in my life, friends, good friends, was I looking for them? Was I planning? Not exactly. Well, even while writing this piece, I already came across with a lot of information on the web serendipitously, clicking by not knowing where they would lead me next. So, here we are, modern princes and princesses who travel around, encounter things and discoveries which are not necessarily searched for.
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ReplyDeleteYeah, I think the word itself is "cool". It also explains my perception of life. Everything happens just by chance (or should I say serendipitously?): You do not get to choose whether you would like to come to the world or not, you do not get to choose basic things that make up who you are, you do not get to choose what you wanna do in your life. It might seem like you do, but indeed you don't. You just conform to societal rules that are decided upon some random events. You end up in the middle of nowhere (e.g. Iowa) without thinking much about it. You either live or die by accident...
ReplyDeleteThis word also reminded me the worst movie (Serenity) that I watched couple years ago. I went to see the movie based on the ratings at imdb.com (8 out of 10), and it was so stupid that people were escaping on a so-called spaceship which looked more like a convertible car. Ooo my God! Please write your opinions if you have seen the movie. Or, you might want to watch it to see what I mean. I am so curious about who though the movie was good, and rated so high. Maybe I do not have the ability to think deep enough to get the complex message they are trying to convey.
Post modern interpretation of Aliye in Museum of Modern Art. Who is the sculptor?
ReplyDeleteJust came across your blog... serendipitously connected one could say - through the magic of google!. In other words, Serendipitously Connected by the very words, Serendipitous Connectability! How cool is that!!! Hope you guys have fun with this blogging thing. Take care ~ Punya Mishra
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