Serendipity

Posted by Amie, Ensemble

At rehearsals, we have been talking about serendipitous happenings surrounding our production of Sanyasi. For example, last night we played with staging that was sweeping and semi-circular: arc-like. Ameneh got all lit up when she realized that we had been talking about Sanyasi's journey as an arc, rather than a circle, and that our staging ended up reflecting that without us doing so purposefully. 
  Today, in the bathroom at the center at which I volunteer, I saw a plaque with a quote from our very own Tagore! My first thought was, "how delightfully serendipitous!" I took a picture (posted above) on my little camera phone. You can barely see "Tagore" written in small letters next to the quote: "The smile you send our returns to you."
  I googled this quote and couldn't find any reference to Tagore having written or said it, which, I guess backs up what Wikipedia says about "His 'elegant prose and magical poetry' still remain[ing] largely unknown outside the confines of Bengal."
  Wikipedia also states: "His poetry in translation was viewed as spiritual, and this together with his mesmerizing persona gave him a prophet-like aura in the west."
  Other ways of saying serendipity could be a "happy accident" or "fortunate chance". Personally, I prefer a definition that carries a little more weight. As one who doesn't believe in coincidences, I like to see these "happy accidents" as confirmations. Confirmation that I'm in the right place at the right time, that what I'm doing matters or that a force greater than myself involved. (Occasionally, I even go so far as to see these instances as, like Tagore's persona, prophetic.)
  I was having a conversation this evening with a good friend, and she brought up the topic of confirmations. She said, "to me those moments make everything seem so much more purposeful, like there's something divine in this."
  My friend had started the conversation recalling an experience we had both shared where many people involved in one project were individually inspired with similar thoughts, and when everything came together, the outcome was beautiful and unified. We knew that on our own, we couldn't have pulled that off. Everything fell into place, and we felt as if there was a hand of blessing on us.
  I've been feeling something similar while rehearsing with the awesome Sanyasi team. That is, the joy of working with a group of invested individuals, each bringing their own creative instincts and inspirations. Every person involved has their unique strengths, gifts and abilities and, when combined, it's almost as if the stars have aligned. Call it spiritual, call it a coincidence, call it what you like. Maybe the smile we are sending out is returning to us.
  Or are we the ones returning the smile?