serendipity on a sunday night

I'm a bit of a weirdo. I'm the type who can reread a book or rewatch a movie over and over again, always looking for new details and never getting bored or tired of it (unless I hate it). It started when I was young with 101 Dalmations. I would watch it every day when I got home from kindergarden. My grandpa, who was visiting from Poland at the time, even apparently said, "These damn dogs again?!" after about the fifteenth time of watching it. Sorry grandpa!

Another favourite? Serendipity (a.k.a. Cutest Movie Ever). You've got your John Cusack, you've got your Kate Beckinsale, and you've got your plot all based on a girl who doesn't believe in fate but then is proved wrong. This movie taught me that:

1) The ideal place to meet someone must be New York City, since there's a bajillion people there (that fact might be slightly exaggerated).
2) You're automatically cooler if you have freckles/beauty marks on your arms in the shape of constellations.
3) John Cusack is awesome.

But it also made me wonder about serendipity, this thing we call fate. The way that I met The Boy was almost serendipitous. We met on a bus after a night class, and we smiled -- and he got off the bus. But then the next week in that night class, I realized he was in my class, and I was glad he wasn't a total stranger. I left class early, and he happened to be the last person who got on the bus. We smiled again, I took out my earphones, and he came over and said 'hi' ... and just like that, boom, instant clickage. Not sure if I'd call it fate, yet I couldn't help but adore the odd and random way in which we had met each other.

Tonight, I watched (500) Days of Summer, which will probably go on the rewatch list. It's not the typical romantic comedy, and I think that's why I enjoyed it. The main girl is a bit of a heartless biatch. But the film wasn't afraid to question the audacity of love, of fate. The protagonist, Tom, goes into the film so sure that you can find your perfect soulmate -- and (SLIGHT SPOILER TIME) -- Summer pretty much takes that idea away from him but then ... adapts it to herself. I didn't like the way her character did a whole 180 at the end, but I think that's meant to show how unpredictable life can be. (END SLIGHT SPOILER TIME) And there's so many more movies like this. My Sassy Girl (both the English and Korean version), You've Got Mail, heck, even Lord of the Rings (what if Frodo Baggins never got ahold of the ring?).

Either way, this all got me thinking about serendipity, fate. What we're meant to do with our choices, and if we're even in control of them. I know this is a little heavier of a subject than I usually take on, so sorry if it's not what you're used to. But based on Wikipedia (oh boy, my university professors would frown on this sentence), I found that whether or not you believe in serendipity, you can't be looking for it.

You know that cliched line of thought, you'll find it when you least expect it? I found it can be true. Scenario 1: Girls and guys go out for a night on the town in a club hoping to hook up or find someone to be with there. Girl or guy might be expecting it. But say you do find that certain someone -- what if you went to a different club that night? What if you arrived at a different time? What if you didn't decide to hold your bladder when your favourite song came on, and when you were dancing to that certain song and still holding onto your bladder, there came that one that catches your eye? That, my friends, is a fortunate accident. (By the way, that picture is the weirdest result I found for clubbing dancing on Google Images haha).

Scenario 2: You've found yourself without a vehicle on the one day that you needed it the most. You find yourself puffing and panting and realizing how out of shape you are (story of my life) as you rush for the nearest bus or subway. You pile onto the vehicle, forgetting how uncomfortable public transportation is, and hope to find a seat but with no luck. There's a slight bump, and you almost lose your balance so you reach out for the nearest bar, sturdy wall, anything. Well, you happen to grab onto a guy's shoulder. He turns around, and he's pretty frickin' handsome. He smiles and says, "Having trouble balancing? Here, hold onto me and then we can fly away to Hawaii." Yay, fortunate accident. (And okay, maybe that last sentence wouldn't happen.) 

Since I adore Serendipity, I always find myself wondering about the word itself.

What do you think about serendipity/fate?
Does it exist? Am I simply crazy? (haha, please don't answer that last one)

Guest blogs are coming soon, just wanting to leave some food for thought instead of a recipe of the week this time around. And I think it's a combination of too much homework and watching movies as a 'reward' that's gotten me thinking way too much. Either way, I'll still try to keep up with all your blogs because they fill my days up with happiness. Hope you've all had a great weekend :)

{Images found via Google Image search.}