I never really encountered the word serendipity until I went to grad school, where it figures largely in research. Since then, it seems to be everywhere: the web, movies, and a shuttle service in Palo Alto.

Today I received it in my email as the Word of the Day and it has some interesting notes on the origin of the word.

The word serendipity was formed by English author Horace Walpole (1717-1797) from Serendip (also Serendib), an old name for Sri Lanka, in reference to a Persian tale, The Three Princes of Serendip, whose heroes "discovered, quite unexpectedly, great and wonderful good in the most unlikely of situations, places and people."

It's the reminder for the day, as I seem rather focused on my own trials and tribulations, to stay open to new things and find the joy in them.