Most people have heard of the concept of serendipity. Many people use the word in their everyday conversations. A surprisingly large number of people have experienced serendipity in their daily lives. Serendipity is a happy accident that brightens your day, and even your entire life. My good friend Phil Whitley had just such an experience.
While we always hear the advice that one should always plan their lives, occasionally the unplanned events are the most successful. Indeed, they are often the most rewarding because of their spontaneous and unplanned nature. While we should always plan for success as much as possible, we should always be alert to the unexpected opportunities that come our way. Every once in awhile, the unexpected becomes reality.
Phil Whitley, (photo left) author of Keechie
Phil Whitley, writer of the Native American novel Keechie (shown top left), enjoyed some delightfully unplanned serendipity in the form of an unexpected book signing. Fortunately for for Phil, he had enough books on hand to accomodate everyone at the impromptu event.
Phil Whitley posts about the thrill on his Writing Keechie blog:
I just got home from a reunion of the "Valley Kids" who all lived in Pine Mountain Valley, Ga. community where I grew up. It is also the setting for Keechie. Luckily, I just 'happened' to have a box of books with me - LOL. I was asked to speak for a few minutes about my book and what caused me to write it.
Then they lined up and bought every book I had with me! 20 in all, and there was no one left out. Everyone who wanted one, got one.This was the best booksigning I have had yet, and it was totally unplanned. I am still in a state of shock, but I can deal with it!
While Phil was lucky enough to have just the right number of books on hand, it's even more intriguing that the total signings and book requests were identical. Perhaps there was a touch of synchronicity at work in the world where events converge in some unknown way. On the other hand, Phil could simply have had a buildup of unsold copies of Keechie in his car trunk. In any case, the entirely unplanned book signing in his home town was a huge success.
For author Phil Whitley, serendipity does indeed brighten one's day.
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