Why humans repeat the same mistakes, and not learn from their negative experiences, is not fully understood. My sense is that we tend to think it might be different this time; we will try harder, etc. Then failure happens.
So the question becomes, Do we push through or sit still? Western thinking tends to say push through, but sometimes this is not the best action.
I agree. I've been curious about this phenomenon for over 25 years, and it's one of the central themes of my explorations and writing. In my experience it is related to trauma.
To the question, do we push through or sit still? I would reply: Neither.
If we accept the premise that every negative experience holds an important message, it makes sense to make an effort to understand the message.
I know it's not easy. But if we do get the message, negative situations transform in miraculous ways.
Yes, I agree that there is a message; there always is. What I have also noticed is that we humans often do not see reality; what we view as reality is often shadows and illusions, often a projection of our own desires and other things.
Yes, trauma is involved, in particular childhood trauma. But there is also the whole realm of societal pressures and materialist consumer culture that darkens reality. As an antidote, I observe nature and in particular non-human animals to get a better sense on reality. Every morning I watch the birds and the squirrels gather their food. I find this both calming and real.
Absolutely. 'Reality' is multilayered phenomenon. Especially human reality. Animals and plants don't have that 'problem'. That's what I love about being in our garden too, which has become a sanctuary for many more-than-human-beings. And that's what I love about your sharing your experiences with the birds and squirrels who come to appreciate your gifts!
I think that’s a great question. I would think that we repeat the same events because we are unconscious and only reacting. What’s positive and what’s negative? What is success and what is failure? I can only speak from the western mindset with only a sprinkling from the east. Everything is a label. I’d love to see what Veronika does with some of those words. I’m not sure they started out as failure is negative. All I know is that I live in to the questions. The mystery is contagious. Do we ever learn?
positive and negative is a big topic, of course. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That will definitely be a subject for (at least) one of the chapters of Synchronosophy.
Oliver Burkeman would agree. Mistakes are repeated when people fail to look at their failures (in other words pushing the negative into the subliminal space) ~ and fail!
Oh, yes. I better add 'learning' and 'failure' to my list of words to (potentially) write about. 'Understanding' and 'Wisdom' are already waiting in the wings.
It's the words themselves that tell me their stories. We need to protect them!
Josh just told me about an article he read about 'doublespeak' which sounds horrific... not sure yet whether I want to read it or not...
It’s amazing just how quickly some of the definitions of words change. And with those definitions, so does our lens. Our stories matter. Are we telling them or are they telling us? Yes, keep me posted on the double speak. I certainly hope I’m not one of the creators of it lol! 🙏❤️
I'm astonished how quickly these days 'good' (or neutral or innocently used) words have their meaning adulterated, and often seem to be weaponised for a particular agenda. It's almost one daren't say anything anymore - but therein lies at least one of the jobs of poetry - I think my next posting might be my poem "A Question of Definition". Watch my space 😀
"All I know is that I live in to the questions." Right on brother. If the questions are fine-tuned, they contain the seed of the answer. I have found this to be so, over and over again; it's identifying the right question, and formulating it in very precise wording, that is the key. However, once the door is opened, there's still some way to go.
For teenage onwards I always pondered what to do when meeting an 'obstacle' in life; is it a sign to back off and go in a different direction? Is it a sign to take courage and push through? Or is it a sign back-off, gain more information, and then choose again? The first two are likely do be done as a re-action. "Act, don't react" was one of the mantras I picked up whilst training to be a teacher of the Alexander Technique.
So that's why I see the last option as best; but the "gain more information" bit is where the true challenge lies because the only way out is throughthe negative experience - which we tend to shy away from. But synchronosphy (the other substack account of Veronika's) points the way.
I go with the last option, now that I am older, 66.
This is a bit off-topic, so forgive me. My brother took seminars and courses on the Alexander Technique when he was pursuing acting years ago. He said it might have not landed him the roles he wanted, but it improved his posture, movement and his breathing.
I'm 67, looks like age also has its compensations 😊. I did the AT training primarily for myself, and as you say -- for posture, movement and breathing -- . I have my mother's tall-thin bodyshape and 20 years ago and looked at the ever-increasing curvature of her spine and thought to myself "that's me in the future, unless I do something about now". So I did. I'm glad I did too.
Great Post! I'm reminded of the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. We keep going through negative experiences until we learn and can correct ourselves. So the negative is a lable but its in fact a teacher.
Precisely. Groundhog Day is an excellent image. The fun part is that when we learn, the correction is automatic. When the student has learned the lesson, the universe shows up in a different way. As if by 'magic'.
Groundhog day is definitely my all-time favourite film. It seems the human experience is set up to learn by trial-and-error -- which means lots of trials and lots of errors. Hopefully we get it before the volume gets turned up to a seriously disagreeable level.
Hola schon wieder, Veronika ! Bob sang about coping with the consequences of slavery, zum beispiel - history, not actually "etymology" (which is, like ancient cave paintings), a grossly undervalued source our uhrancestry.
I haven’t read any of the preceding comments yet, but wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t already re-quoted.
“While ‘positive synchronicity’ is uplifting, pleasant, and encouraging, it’s the negative synchronous events from which we can learn the most, if we have the courage, willingness, and resources to travel through them.”
The “end” result of going through and integrating the negative synchronous events is living in conscious awareness of constant synchrony. Fun times 😎
Yes!!! It's not that negative synchronous events don't happen anymore (well, at least in my experience, obviously not having reached the "end") But it's definitely more fun handling them, partly because they are relatively minor, and partly because we know there is always treasure to be found underneath the apparent surface of 'negative'.
I tried for many years to write a “non-fiction” book on these very principles. Word count exploded to the hundreds of thousands. Scrapped and rewrote so many times but never felt like I was doing it justice. Now here you are doing just that!
Sure thing. :) part of why I’m here I’m sure. Like we’ve talked about before - experiencing a quantum leap in writing/communication quality by being immersed in this type of environment.
I love your exploration of language here! I'm particularly intrigued (and want to think more about) the idea that we have experiences versus making them. That feels so true. An experience (for better or worse, preferred or non-preferred) is gifted to us. As you said, we can try to set it up as we want it, but in the end we can't be in control of it. If we were, the experiencer wouldn't actually have anything to experience. We would be creator, not experiencer. Quick question if you have the time and inclination: can you give me an everyday example of negative synchronicity? I do seem to 'experience' a lot of what I call synchronicity in my life, and I'm not sure I'd necessarily label it as positive or negative. This has me wondering if what I've been calling synchronicity is actually something else.
Of course. We all use words differently, in the way we have come to understand them, filled with certain meanings and associations. I use 'synchronicity' in the sense it has been introduced by C.G. Jung (not necessarily in the sense he meant it originally), but with the meaning it has been filled over the years through new-age-speak, which is 'positive synchrony'.
In my understanding every experience is synchrony, and any event in life, no matter how big or small, is an experience ~ at least in theory ~ if we drive through it. Most often we simply bypass our experience, hardly noticing it has happened...
To this I might have to add that I am talking about 'subjective experience', because ~ strictly speaking ~ there is only subjective experience, AND it is the only one we can 'drive through'.
Back to synchrony. We only tend to notice our experience (unless you practice mindfullness 24/7) if and when there is either negative or positive synchrony. What do I mean by 'negative' and 'positive'? It is revealed through the subjective experience.
I know, it sounds a bit like an ouroboros (the snake eating its own tail). But that's only true as long as you keep it abstract and try to resolve the conundrum in a rational way. Positive or negative synchrony are straight forward as soon as you notice how the experience makes you feel (+ when you become aware, acknowledge and accept your emotional response, I must add because too many people seem to believe they must get rid of negative emotions to 'raise their frequency', which is fatal).
It sounds more complicated than it is because there are so many assumptions and caveats we must navigate these days... a minefield!
So, I only use 'synchronicity' for positive events, to avoid confusion. These are synchronous experiences which feel good, uplifting, make my heart sing, fill me with joy.
Negative synchrony, in my language, are the opposite. They are experiences which might trigger discomfort, irritation, annoyance, fear, anger, sadness, etc. If the emotional response is coherent with what has actually happened, then it will subside quickly and leave me feeling better, stronger, clearer. If there is incoherence between the facts in 'material reality' and my emotional response, when I feel there is something murky lurking under the surface, and I feel I can't quite get a grasp on it, then I know there is something more meaningful going on. Very likely something to do with unprocessed trauma. THIS is what I call 'negative synchrony'.
Quick question ~ long answer.
It's a complex topic, takes a bit of time to understand because it requires some paradigm-shifting but relatively simple to unravel. That's what I'm doing over at »Synchronosophy: A Rough Guide to the Feral Side of Life«
Thank you SO much for this thoughtful explanation! I think I get it now. The way I'd been seeing it was that the synchronicity was the (seemingly coincidental and neutral) event, and then my subjective response to it (or my subjective experience) was either positive or negative. In other words, I'd been seeing that synchronicity itself just is, it's neither positive nor negative, but my experience of it is where the positivity or negativity of it lies. I had gotten myself confused, thinking you were saying that some synchronous events are inherently positive and some are negative. After reading your explanation here, though, I see that we're basically saying the same thing. And the call is to not avoid our negative experiences with synchronicity/synchronous events, which I fully agree with. Just as with our positive responses to synchronicity/synchronous events, they are pointing us somewhere. Thank you again for giving me this clarity! ♥️🤗
I don't think folks are taught to learn from negative experiences. We certainly hear of others doing so, but I don't know, maybe it seems like hard work? People aren't patient enough? It's like you said, our minds can't make sense of it. So, the scary question then becomes, what happens to those experiences if you can't turn them around or at least make peace with them?
You are absolutely right. Folks aren't taught this vital skill. And it is indeed a scary question! But also an eye-opening one. And a life changing one, if we pursue it and learn to practice this skill.
If our negative experiences are related to trauma (which they are very often, if not always) then NOT learning from our experiences can lead to more and gradually worse negative experiences, including illness. If you are interested to find out more, this is described in Gabor Maté's book 'The Myth of Normal'.
Thank you so much for asking these important questions 💕🙏
G Maté has become quite a celebrity with that book (co-written with his son)
Maté is a doctor who has worked a lot with patients with autoimmune disease and degenerative conditions, and he states clearly that ALL these conditions are the result of suppressed emotions. That's a pretty scary thought, but makes a lot of sense to me.
A wormhole is finally being blasted straight to heaven's door whereby 'negative synchronous events' can be properly resolved, their gift and lessons appreciated, and their locked-up energy be released into creative actions which build a new communal paradigm of spirit-vitality, leaving the old order to self-destruct in its own hubris and irrelevance.
I love the image of the wormhole❣️ putting the finger right on the release button.
When we dive into a negative experience, through the layers of synchronous events, we inadvertently find ourselves within a wormhole (a passage between different potential realities of being) and while fathoming out layer upon layer, making sense of it all, a gift is being revealed, wrapped in sheets of lessons, perfectly preserved outside of space-time, in a spot known as 'trauma'.
The 'old order' falls away, back into in the eternal chaos, to be composted in the accumulated pile of outdated beliefs and theories, and turned into leaven.
Then there is serendipity - sometimes an intervention from an other(s), sometimes looked for, or else perhaps luck, a recognition at the right time and space?
Simultaneity has its apparent contradictions, one space, one time; the human mind likes a puzzle ... hope and fortune go with you.
Thank you Philip! Of course, serendipity was at the back of my mind too, but I chose not to include this beautiful word in this wordcast because of its unrelated etymology. It might find its way into this substack on another serendipitous occasion. 🧡🙏
To slightly, and Only Slightly, paraphrase Bob Marley "If you know your etymology, den you know where yo comin from"
Oh, that's a great phrase! Thank you. Can you remind me of the original?
Why humans repeat the same mistakes, and not learn from their negative experiences, is not fully understood. My sense is that we tend to think it might be different this time; we will try harder, etc. Then failure happens.
So the question becomes, Do we push through or sit still? Western thinking tends to say push through, but sometimes this is not the best action.
I agree. I've been curious about this phenomenon for over 25 years, and it's one of the central themes of my explorations and writing. In my experience it is related to trauma.
To the question, do we push through or sit still? I would reply: Neither.
If we accept the premise that every negative experience holds an important message, it makes sense to make an effort to understand the message.
I know it's not easy. But if we do get the message, negative situations transform in miraculous ways.
I call it ‘mining for the gold’!
My mantra is ‘things happen for us- not to us’, which always sets me up to learn from all experiences, no matter how unpleasant.
Great piece!! Thank you Veronika!❤️
What a great mantra!
I call it a 'treasure hunt'. Same concept. Understanding comes with finding the treasure and bringing it home.
Yes, I agree that there is a message; there always is. What I have also noticed is that we humans often do not see reality; what we view as reality is often shadows and illusions, often a projection of our own desires and other things.
Yes, trauma is involved, in particular childhood trauma. But there is also the whole realm of societal pressures and materialist consumer culture that darkens reality. As an antidote, I observe nature and in particular non-human animals to get a better sense on reality. Every morning I watch the birds and the squirrels gather their food. I find this both calming and real.
Absolutely. 'Reality' is multilayered phenomenon. Especially human reality. Animals and plants don't have that 'problem'. That's what I love about being in our garden too, which has become a sanctuary for many more-than-human-beings. And that's what I love about your sharing your experiences with the birds and squirrels who come to appreciate your gifts!
I agree, And I do likewise, go into Nature, and often recite to myself Wendell Berry's poem "The Peace of Wild Things" (which you can find here, btw: https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/peace-wild-things-0/ )
Thank you, Joshua.
Bestimmt
I think that’s a great question. I would think that we repeat the same events because we are unconscious and only reacting. What’s positive and what’s negative? What is success and what is failure? I can only speak from the western mindset with only a sprinkling from the east. Everything is a label. I’d love to see what Veronika does with some of those words. I’m not sure they started out as failure is negative. All I know is that I live in to the questions. The mystery is contagious. Do we ever learn?
positive and negative is a big topic, of course. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That will definitely be a subject for (at least) one of the chapters of Synchronosophy.
Oliver Burkeman would agree. Mistakes are repeated when people fail to look at their failures (in other words pushing the negative into the subliminal space) ~ and fail!
Sounds like a great chapter. I’d love to breakdown “learning” too! Wisdom? Thanks for going to the spaces between the words. We need you!
Oh, yes. I better add 'learning' and 'failure' to my list of words to (potentially) write about. 'Understanding' and 'Wisdom' are already waiting in the wings.
It's the words themselves that tell me their stories. We need to protect them!
Josh just told me about an article he read about 'doublespeak' which sounds horrific... not sure yet whether I want to read it or not...
It’s amazing just how quickly some of the definitions of words change. And with those definitions, so does our lens. Our stories matter. Are we telling them or are they telling us? Yes, keep me posted on the double speak. I certainly hope I’m not one of the creators of it lol! 🙏❤️
I'm astonished how quickly these days 'good' (or neutral or innocently used) words have their meaning adulterated, and often seem to be weaponised for a particular agenda. It's almost one daren't say anything anymore - but therein lies at least one of the jobs of poetry - I think my next posting might be my poem "A Question of Definition". Watch my space 😀
I don't think you are, Jamie, 'no worries' as they say down under... here's the link https://news.rebekahbarnett.com.au/p/digital-id-will-be-voluntary-the
from the publication 'Dystopian Down under'
"All I know is that I live in to the questions." Right on brother. If the questions are fine-tuned, they contain the seed of the answer. I have found this to be so, over and over again; it's identifying the right question, and formulating it in very precise wording, that is the key. However, once the door is opened, there's still some way to go.
So true! 🙏❤️
For teenage onwards I always pondered what to do when meeting an 'obstacle' in life; is it a sign to back off and go in a different direction? Is it a sign to take courage and push through? Or is it a sign back-off, gain more information, and then choose again? The first two are likely do be done as a re-action. "Act, don't react" was one of the mantras I picked up whilst training to be a teacher of the Alexander Technique.
So that's why I see the last option as best; but the "gain more information" bit is where the true challenge lies because the only way out is throughthe negative experience - which we tend to shy away from. But synchronosphy (the other substack account of Veronika's) points the way.
Oh Josh! A man of my heart! Thank you! I totally resonate.
I go with the last option, now that I am older, 66.
This is a bit off-topic, so forgive me. My brother took seminars and courses on the Alexander Technique when he was pursuing acting years ago. He said it might have not landed him the roles he wanted, but it improved his posture, movement and his breathing.
I'm 67, looks like age also has its compensations 😊. I did the AT training primarily for myself, and as you say -- for posture, movement and breathing -- . I have my mother's tall-thin bodyshape and 20 years ago and looked at the ever-increasing curvature of her spine and thought to myself "that's me in the future, unless I do something about now". So I did. I'm glad I did too.
Great Post! I'm reminded of the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. We keep going through negative experiences until we learn and can correct ourselves. So the negative is a lable but its in fact a teacher.
Precisely. Groundhog Day is an excellent image. The fun part is that when we learn, the correction is automatic. When the student has learned the lesson, the universe shows up in a different way. As if by 'magic'.
Groundhog day is definitely my all-time favourite film. It seems the human experience is set up to learn by trial-and-error -- which means lots of trials and lots of errors. Hopefully we get it before the volume gets turned up to a seriously disagreeable level.
Hola schon wieder, Veronika ! Bob sang about coping with the consequences of slavery, zum beispiel - history, not actually "etymology" (which is, like ancient cave paintings), a grossly undervalued source our uhrancestry.
I haven’t read any of the preceding comments yet, but wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t already re-quoted.
“While ‘positive synchronicity’ is uplifting, pleasant, and encouraging, it’s the negative synchronous events from which we can learn the most, if we have the courage, willingness, and resources to travel through them.”
The “end” result of going through and integrating the negative synchronous events is living in conscious awareness of constant synchrony. Fun times 😎
No, you're the first! Thanks for picking it up.
Yes!!! It's not that negative synchronous events don't happen anymore (well, at least in my experience, obviously not having reached the "end") But it's definitely more fun handling them, partly because they are relatively minor, and partly because we know there is always treasure to be found underneath the apparent surface of 'negative'.
Agree 100%.
I tried for many years to write a “non-fiction” book on these very principles. Word count exploded to the hundreds of thousands. Scrapped and rewrote so many times but never felt like I was doing it justice. Now here you are doing just that!
Oh tell me about it... so you know why it's taken me so long... I hope I can count on you as an editor of my word explosions 🤔💭
Sure thing. :) part of why I’m here I’m sure. Like we’ve talked about before - experiencing a quantum leap in writing/communication quality by being immersed in this type of environment.
Another gem!
“Learning from experience only works by taking the leap, diving in, and taking the perilous ride one more time.”
“Experience is as much an external as an internal event “ We are a symphony of synchrony indeed.
The poetry of the Symbiocene! Experience is a poem! See you in the spaces between the synchronies!
Definitely! Meeting you in the spaces between the synchronies is synchronicity 💖🙏
Indeed! Great post. Thank you for connecting the dots. 🙏❤️
Veronika the quote by Jean Gebser is wonderful.
So is Gebser's work!
I love your exploration of language here! I'm particularly intrigued (and want to think more about) the idea that we have experiences versus making them. That feels so true. An experience (for better or worse, preferred or non-preferred) is gifted to us. As you said, we can try to set it up as we want it, but in the end we can't be in control of it. If we were, the experiencer wouldn't actually have anything to experience. We would be creator, not experiencer. Quick question if you have the time and inclination: can you give me an everyday example of negative synchronicity? I do seem to 'experience' a lot of what I call synchronicity in my life, and I'm not sure I'd necessarily label it as positive or negative. This has me wondering if what I've been calling synchronicity is actually something else.
Of course. We all use words differently, in the way we have come to understand them, filled with certain meanings and associations. I use 'synchronicity' in the sense it has been introduced by C.G. Jung (not necessarily in the sense he meant it originally), but with the meaning it has been filled over the years through new-age-speak, which is 'positive synchrony'.
In my understanding every experience is synchrony, and any event in life, no matter how big or small, is an experience ~ at least in theory ~ if we drive through it. Most often we simply bypass our experience, hardly noticing it has happened...
To this I might have to add that I am talking about 'subjective experience', because ~ strictly speaking ~ there is only subjective experience, AND it is the only one we can 'drive through'.
Back to synchrony. We only tend to notice our experience (unless you practice mindfullness 24/7) if and when there is either negative or positive synchrony. What do I mean by 'negative' and 'positive'? It is revealed through the subjective experience.
I know, it sounds a bit like an ouroboros (the snake eating its own tail). But that's only true as long as you keep it abstract and try to resolve the conundrum in a rational way. Positive or negative synchrony are straight forward as soon as you notice how the experience makes you feel (+ when you become aware, acknowledge and accept your emotional response, I must add because too many people seem to believe they must get rid of negative emotions to 'raise their frequency', which is fatal).
It sounds more complicated than it is because there are so many assumptions and caveats we must navigate these days... a minefield!
So, I only use 'synchronicity' for positive events, to avoid confusion. These are synchronous experiences which feel good, uplifting, make my heart sing, fill me with joy.
Negative synchrony, in my language, are the opposite. They are experiences which might trigger discomfort, irritation, annoyance, fear, anger, sadness, etc. If the emotional response is coherent with what has actually happened, then it will subside quickly and leave me feeling better, stronger, clearer. If there is incoherence between the facts in 'material reality' and my emotional response, when I feel there is something murky lurking under the surface, and I feel I can't quite get a grasp on it, then I know there is something more meaningful going on. Very likely something to do with unprocessed trauma. THIS is what I call 'negative synchrony'.
Quick question ~ long answer.
It's a complex topic, takes a bit of time to understand because it requires some paradigm-shifting but relatively simple to unravel. That's what I'm doing over at »Synchronosophy: A Rough Guide to the Feral Side of Life«
Thank you SO much for this thoughtful explanation! I think I get it now. The way I'd been seeing it was that the synchronicity was the (seemingly coincidental and neutral) event, and then my subjective response to it (or my subjective experience) was either positive or negative. In other words, I'd been seeing that synchronicity itself just is, it's neither positive nor negative, but my experience of it is where the positivity or negativity of it lies. I had gotten myself confused, thinking you were saying that some synchronous events are inherently positive and some are negative. After reading your explanation here, though, I see that we're basically saying the same thing. And the call is to not avoid our negative experiences with synchronicity/synchronous events, which I fully agree with. Just as with our positive responses to synchronicity/synchronous events, they are pointing us somewhere. Thank you again for giving me this clarity! ♥️🤗
I'm glad. You're welcome. I wasn't sure whether I could make it clear enough in one comment, and not sound like I'm rambling... 😅
If this is helpful I can use this explanation again, so thank YOU too. 💖🙏
I don't think folks are taught to learn from negative experiences. We certainly hear of others doing so, but I don't know, maybe it seems like hard work? People aren't patient enough? It's like you said, our minds can't make sense of it. So, the scary question then becomes, what happens to those experiences if you can't turn them around or at least make peace with them?
You are absolutely right. Folks aren't taught this vital skill. And it is indeed a scary question! But also an eye-opening one. And a life changing one, if we pursue it and learn to practice this skill.
If our negative experiences are related to trauma (which they are very often, if not always) then NOT learning from our experiences can lead to more and gradually worse negative experiences, including illness. If you are interested to find out more, this is described in Gabor Maté's book 'The Myth of Normal'.
Thank you so much for asking these important questions 💕🙏
Thank you. I've heard of Gabor Maté', but have never explored his material.
G Maté has become quite a celebrity with that book (co-written with his son)
Maté is a doctor who has worked a lot with patients with autoimmune disease and degenerative conditions, and he states clearly that ALL these conditions are the result of suppressed emotions. That's a pretty scary thought, but makes a lot of sense to me.
A wormhole is finally being blasted straight to heaven's door whereby 'negative synchronous events' can be properly resolved, their gift and lessons appreciated, and their locked-up energy be released into creative actions which build a new communal paradigm of spirit-vitality, leaving the old order to self-destruct in its own hubris and irrelevance.
I love the image of the wormhole❣️ putting the finger right on the release button.
When we dive into a negative experience, through the layers of synchronous events, we inadvertently find ourselves within a wormhole (a passage between different potential realities of being) and while fathoming out layer upon layer, making sense of it all, a gift is being revealed, wrapped in sheets of lessons, perfectly preserved outside of space-time, in a spot known as 'trauma'.
The 'old order' falls away, back into in the eternal chaos, to be composted in the accumulated pile of outdated beliefs and theories, and turned into leaven.
Then there is serendipity - sometimes an intervention from an other(s), sometimes looked for, or else perhaps luck, a recognition at the right time and space?
Simultaneity has its apparent contradictions, one space, one time; the human mind likes a puzzle ... hope and fortune go with you.
Thank you Philip! Of course, serendipity was at the back of my mind too, but I chose not to include this beautiful word in this wordcast because of its unrelated etymology. It might find its way into this substack on another serendipitous occasion. 🧡🙏
Of course, smile. The word if I remember was a gift from an old story from the Island of Serendip as it was a while ago?
Yes. It's from a Persian Fairytale called 'The Three Princes of Serendip'
https://library.acropolis.org/the-three-princes-of-serendip/