The Reading Serendipity
Have you ever had a feeling to read something at the exact time when you need it, even though you weren't looking for it? This happens a lot, at least to me. I wonder does anyone of you experience the same?
After some research, I found a somewhat appropriate term for it - serendipity. The dictionary about serendipity says this - the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for[1]. Since I've noticed this during reading, I will call it the reading serendipity.
Now, let me tell you about some of those serendipitous situations that happened to me while I was reading.
Some time ago I was feeling kind of lost. Both work and private life were going well, but I wasn't sure about the direction I'm going. I wasn't trying to do some research on how to explore and counter this feeling that I felt, I haven't had the strength for that. I felt like a deflated balloon. Then, an interesting thing happened. Just when I was feeling that way, I stumbled on a chapter in a book I was reading at the time. It was about how to develop high sense of purpose. I got so immersed in that chapter, I devoured it completely. And voila! Without even looking for it, I found the direction. Or at least a motivation to look for a direction.
It was an interesting feeling of reading about the exact thing I needed the most, even though I wasn't looking for it, in a sense.
For some time I was thinking about starting to journal every day. I never got the proper push in the bottom for it. I was often like - okay, I need a proper setting, I need something different, blah, blah, blah. Then, I received a newsletter with an article about stoicism and how it is an ancient remedy for the modern age. I started reading it, and after some lines, I thought - this was just the thing I need! The pattern was the same as the above - I devoured the article, even re-read it a couple of times, to make sure I've got the point. And voila! Without me even looking for it, I started my mornings with journaling. It's been going on for some time now, and I enjoy it!
Quite a while ago, I wasn't able to structure my training. I was jumping from one exercise to another, looking for progress and structure. I read some articles and books that I thought could help me structure the training sessions properly, with an adequate amount of exercise and rest in between. I thought I found it, so I put some sort of structure, and started following a program from an application - religiously. After some time I felt that this doesn't work for me - I was going to sessions so focused on exercises and my phone, and timers and all that, that I lost that joyous feeling when I was climbing. I was often too tired to try climbing routes after that amount of training.
After some time, I stumbled upon an article that was explaining the importance of climbing exercises, keeping it simple, and rest in climbing. I am not sure if it was an article or a chapter from a book, but I am certain of the outcome of receiving that information. I completely restructured my training sessions, with a focus on climbing. I have certain exercises that I do besides just climbing, but I am keeping them as simple as I can. This helped me a lot! And, without me even looking for it. Or when I stopped to look for it.
Maybe this is reading serendipity, maybe it's not, however, I find it quite convenient and I like to notice it. The important thing is that sometimes, you need to stop searching for an answer to find the answer you were searching for all along. And never stop reading!
See you in the next post!