Riding The Serendipitous Wave

While sipping my usual cup of dark roast from my usual ceramic mug, I logged into my Yahoo account this morning, as I usually do. Stuck in routine, I am. The usual junk was there, Lands End sale, the DailyOM, Eddie Bauer FREE SHIPPING!. There were a few emails from friends, one from my mom, and one from a woman I don't know very well, who, in fact, I haven't been in touch with for over a year.

We have met once, this woman and I, several years ago when we found ourselves at the same place at the same time and linked together by the people we knew. We got along well enough, but not well enough to stay connected on a meaningful level.  When we do exchange messages they are short, succinct notes of good will.

Hope you are well!

Merry Christmas!

Congratulations!

Today's email was different. Today, out of the blue, without any occasion that would require good wishes, she sent me an email with a question. A simple, but inquisitive kind of question. And on this particular day, instead of hitting delete or replying with a few polite words, I allowed my fingers to tap out what my head wanted to say. What followed over the next forty-five minutes of email time was a sort of spontaneous inspirational dialogue.

She doled out words like medicine: keep strong as you move along, and trust in what you believe; those negative comments are important...they get you to evaluate what really is right for you... and make you work toward attaining it.

These beautiful words of wisdom were offered to me at just the right moment in time, and I held on to them all day. I grabbed them off the screen, dipped them in chocolate and swallowed them whole. I watered the garden with them. I sprinkled them in my salad like sunflower seeds. I kept them close, allowed them to float around me until they slowly began to fade, as words often do.

It was only then, after they slipped from my grasp, after they fulfilled their verbal duty, that I wondered, how did she know?

How did she know exactly what to say?

What bizarre set of circumstances caused this woman whom I barely know, a woman who lives 3000 miles away, to hand deliver on the silver platter that is my computer screen the precise words of encouragement I so needed? Today.

Are we all connected in some mysterious way?  Can the energy of one person reach across the country to another without our full awareness?  Energy is a powerful force, so the Jedi in my house tell me.

Or maybe the magical wonders that occur in our lives can be credited to all the angels out there trying to earn their wings. It worked for Jimmy Stewart. I think I did hear a bell ring after my email exchange this morning.

Or perhaps, more likely even, we are all riding one big serendipitous wave of life, hanging on the best we can and hoping that the tide stays high long enough for us to figure it all out. If we're lucky, we get splashed with tiny droplets of clarity along the way.  We get thrown the occasional anchor of support and safety.  We get handed random swells of goodness from all the guest appearances who show up when we most need them.

Maybe. 

The truth is, I don't know.

And maybe it's better that way, this not knowing.  Maybe the mysterious workings of the Universe are a mystery for a reason. 

In any event, I'm glad I checked my email this morning.


Has this ever happened to you? Has someone or something showed up unexpectedly just at the time you needed it?  And did you think it was just a little bit creepy, but in a good way?