Serendipity

As I've stumbled through the years I've had the good luck to discover people, places and things that are helpful and bring me great joy.  That doesn't mean I haven't hit many rough patches. I've had to pick myself up and brush off several times. But it seems, quite often, when I fall into a rabbit hole I find a little piece of wonderland.

I'd like to tell you a little story about what happened to me today.  I'd promised to bring items to a yard sale at my friend's house.  She'd even set the date based on my preference.  But last week was full of work and complications so I didn't get a chance to go to our storage unit to sort and gather.  I'd figured I could take care of it Friday night.  At the last minute my husband decided to go to a golf tournament so I knew I'd be on my own for the sorting and loading.

When I got home from work I took Dasher, the dog, for a walk.  It was so hot and when I got home I had a terrible headache and decided to go to bed early.  I planned on sorting and loading the items in the morning.  I'm usually an early riser (6:00 am) and didn't thing to set my alarm.  When I woke up at 8:45 I jumped out of bed, feeling guilty about being late.  I threw on come clothes and grabbed the spare set of truck keys because I couldn't find the regular ones. Looking outside I realized that my husband hadn't left the truck at home.  So I headed to the storage unit in my smaller car.

 I started to work in the storage unit I by moving a mattress outside.  As I was digging through the shelves I heard a voice behind me.  I turned around to see a woman with a little girl standing in the doorway.  She asked, "are you selling this mattress? Because my daughter and I getting our stuff out of storage to move into an apartment nearby."

"No, I'm not going to sell it," I said, "I'm going to give it to you."

After I helped her tie the mattress to the top of her car I asked if she'd like any of the items I'd pulled out for the yard sale.  Soon all of the boxes were loaded in her car.  She tried to hand me some money but I refused to take it.  My goal was to declutter my storage unit, not make money.  And I knew the items were going to make a difference for the mother and daughter as they embark on their fresh start. When I showed up at my friend's house empty handed we laughed.

Being an artist I rely on serendipity every time I begin a new work.  So today I have a blank gesso board a tree picture and some acrylic paint.  I'm going put on some music, pour some iced tea and see what kind of "happy accidents" I can get into!

Want to come along?