Haiku: A Chance Encounter
“We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.” Fydor Dostoevsky
Haiku: A Chance Encounter – Can lead to Transformations
A chance encounter
On a journey to nowhere
Ah, zemblanity
On an early jaunt
Two souls crossed paths in a park
Sunset in their eyes
One, a palooka
Other, a weary hooker
Life … not welcomed here
Tears shared … in tandem
Woe filled stories pierce the air
Dented destinies
For any of us, a chance encounter can lead to great transformation. At least once in our lifetime, we will experience an encounter that will leave a deep impression on our psyche. While some encounters are negative and others positive, I believe that all of them present us with opportunities for growth. Even with the best effort and intentions, life brings its share of bumps and dips that create challenges, obstacles and even derailments in our lives. With those events, we are often given an exit strategy through the presence of a guide, a mentor or a sympathetic ear. We have the free choice to accept the aid or stubbornly press on with our own plans. When we look back at events that have shaped our lives, we would be wise to reflect on where our greatest help came from and to contemplate that… every chance encounter offers a lesson to be learned. The haiku shows two sides of a coin… The characters are the same, and the transformation real. Have a productive day! What transformative experience have you had in a chance encounter? FYI – The plural form for Haiku is Haiku NOT Haikus.
More Below!
“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” John Milton
Haiku: A Chance Encounter – Can lead to Transformations
A chance encounter
On a journey to somewhere
serendipity
On this early jaunt
Two souls crossed paths in a park
sunrise in their eyes
A transformation
Love’s healing touch found two homes
Life is … welcomed here
Smiles … in unison
Good morning greetings abound
A new day has dawned
This Haiku is pure fiction but, it takes a close look at chance encounters and their potential impact for good and bad. Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, we do not walk this path called life … alone. At different landmarks in our journey, we experience trying moments, and each one offers us an opportunity for transformation. The shift in our personal paradigm might be tiny but, every action we take and every response we make, adds to our transformation and can help us over the abyss we believe is in front of us. Don’t despair over life’s hard knocks as they give us training wheels to help us along the path of growth. May you find love and growth and helpers along your path. Stay inspired.
This post was inspired by two WordPress Prompts: 1. Discover Challenge: Chance Encounter – For this week’s Discover challenge, you may write a personal essay or memoir, like Ann’s post, or tackle another genre. Fiction writers and poets: tell us how two characters cross paths. Artists and photographers: capture a chance encounter in a sketch or a photograph. Interpret this challenge in your own way! To help other participants and new fans find your response in the Reader, tag your post #DiscoverWP.
Positive Motivation Tip: Even when life takes a bite out of our dreams a chance encounter can transform us. Stay hopeful!
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos : Chance, Transformation, via Pixabay and/or via Wikipedia
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
I like the serendipity trio best of course!
Hahaha! I suspect you do. It is infinitely more upbeat. TY! <3
So many chance encounters in life! And so many of them changing my direction. It’s much of what makes life an adventure.
Quite true… without those moments, life would be predictable and boring! 🙂
Couldn’t agree with you more that chance encounters can lead to great things. We have them everyday – snippets of conversation with strangers- but we only remember those chance encounters that either positively or negatively affect our lives. Your haikus expressed it perfectly.
Me – No Haiku
You – Know Haiku
Thanks for the post, and the thought provoking juxtaposition.
Thank you for the humorous comment and play on words. I owe you a return visit. 🙂
It is so interesting how a chance encounter can change your whole life. This post really has me thinking about my past encounters.
SO.VERY.TRUE. A chance encounter with a stranger on a plane actually changed my life and perspective. That may seem a little crazy, but I couldn’t agree more.
YES! I love this post. I think everyone who crosses our path, are meant to be there. I think everything happens for a reason and whether they are a fly on the wall or someone who directly interacts with us, I think they are MEANT to be there for any and all specific reasons.
I love chance encounters! They make life so much fun and exciting….you never know what adventure awaits you!
I think each of us has experienced serendipity at one time or another and have encountered good things and have met people who have left a great impression when we least expected them. I agree with you that experiences, whether these be positive or negative give us opportunities for growth. Thanks for another great reflection piece!
I believe that everything in this life happens for a reason. Nothing is left to chance.
Wow this is beautiful. I have always looked back on my life and the people who were put into it. Each person had a reason, a purpose for being in my life and I am forever greatful to all those who I have encountered.
the trials we encounter very good to transformed us to become better of our paths
I enjoyed the haikus that you shared today. Enjoyable to read and makes you think.
Omg love this!!! We learn from everything. Both good and bad.
Thanks for sharing. A positive encounter for inspirations.
Those Haikus are so deep in thought. Or so I was, and whenever I come across one. Thank you for sharing them, it made my day!
Love Haiku’s!!! Such a wicked post.
Going to save some of these for motivation later.
I’ve always believed in meeting that perfect stranger, turns out I was right! Love you hubby!
a little too abstract for me to grasp this time. and also the first time i’ve seen this word zemblanity. learnt something new again today! thanks for sharing.
It is like love at first sight dont you think?
I am always hopeful even if things are quite impossible because there is always hope! Love the haiku!
This is a very wonderful post. I love some of these quotes too. Very inspirational.
Great tip. A chance encounter can change us. #keephopealive
Everyday we encounter opportunities to choose – whether they don’t seem so big or they’re overwhelming, they’re always a chance for growth.
Yes, I have met people who I can tell will have a great impact on my life. Some of those people had a good impact, others not so good.
I went through some pretty scary stuff in high school that definitely made me re-prioritize and realize what was ‘good’ and not ‘good’ for me and my life!
I believe in chance encounters. There have been so many times that I have felt this happen.
There have been many chance encounters in my life. The main one was when I entered a giveaway at the last minute on facebook. I had just joined the page where the giveaway was going on and I had won my giveaway. The owner of the page was so positive and I needed that at that time in my live. We became friends and she asked if I would like to work with her. Just entering that giveaway at that time changed how I seen myself and life in general.
Sometimes, there are forces unseen that allows us to cross our paths with another. There are those whom we only meet at the crossroads and then they fall to the past. But there are those whom we get to retain as friends, or often meet again at another place and time. I cherish chance encounters when I travel, even when I no longer get to see these people after I go back home.
I think meeting strangers and having them as friends is a real bonus. I guess people come into out life for a purpose.
Chance encounters – happen every day. You never know what will come out of each.
Love this quote, I remember the days when I first encounter the difficulty in our life
The surprise of chance encounters is real. I think it’s important to stay open, appreciative, grateful in life and to approach everything with that attitude in order to see and feel those grand encounters.
That’s such a beautiful haiku, you know, I perfectly agree with you about chance encounters. Sometimes we meet people, especially strangers, that can create an impact in our lives, be it a simple advice or even a simple exchange of words. It’s amazing isn’t it? And then there are chance encounters that are meant to form relationships, even better!
These are beautiful haikus. A chance encounter may open up a lot of opportunities, but it may also bring us pain.
A chance encounter… but is it really by chance? I still often question whether fate and destiny are real or just something we make up to make ourselves feel better.
You’re very talented. 🙂
Oh wow this is such an amazing post – I don’t know why but I felt calmed by the end and as though I was breathing better.
This is very true, we will all encounter things that would lead us into something new or something that would remind us about life.
If I am not wrong Haiku is a Japanese short form poem, which is hard to write. Nicely written and truly inspirational.
Never knew of the word Zemblanity. Thanks for improving my vocab Elizabeth!
I experienced the word chance encounter today… I was feeling down and unhappy when I encountered a drama by chance and it gave me hope in love and life again…
“A chance encounter can transform us” is a great phrase. I truly believe that sometimes you do have to allow chance to play it’s hand.
Hmmm… Another new word learned today. Zemblanity. Let me see if I can use that one day. You are really a haiku master.
completely agree, we should remain open to opportunities. Although things will happen that may not be agreeable remaining positive makes a difference
Very true. Chance encounter can put us back on track and in fact take way ahead in our path! Hope is eternal and so we all will have chance encounter.
Those unknown encounters in our life are the stepping stones for us to learn and feel blessed that how wonderful life we have got.
Fiction or not, it’s def. on point. Chance encounters can definitely be powerful.
I always love haikus, they are so spiritual! Thanks for posting this
So many things can happen with just a chance encounter. The possibilities are endless
I have always wonder in the beauty of serendipity and how life just present itself when you least expect it and directs you to a path to take to be able to see your dreams coming true. It might be profound but I do believe in it.
Chance encounters are what make life so interesting. The element of surprise makes our experiences more real! 🙂
I agree we all come across many such chance encounters in life which brings some unexpected changes in your path. At the end of the day if you can find you find love and positive attitude that is going to be great all the way. Thanks for inspiring.
Everyday is a life’s challenge, and challenges are the best way to deal today and tomorrows.
Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, we do not walk this path called life … alone
-> so spot on!
I love that you always see the positive in things, like when you said, “While some encounters are negative and others positive, I believe that all of them present us with opportunities for growth.” I hope all chance encounters will help us become better individuals.
A chance to encounter sometimes will leads us to another venture or path of our life. Always open to all possibilities in life.
What I love to meet new people is how much I can learn from their experiences or how much I can enjoy their stories and adventures
So many chance encounters in life! Each one changes our lives in a different way….loved your post!
Zemblanity is a very weird word, the opposite of serendipity? Anyway, a chance encounter can get you to all kinds of situations, from negative to positive to anywhere in between
I love writing poems or short stories but I could never understand haiku. It is one of the most difficult ways of expressions in my opinion.
I quote ” For many of us, a chance encounter can lead to great transformation. At least once in our lifetime, we will experience an encounter that will leave a deep impression on our psyche. While some encounters are negative and others positive, I believe that all of them present us with opportunities for growth. ….Don’t despair over life’s hard knocks as they give us training wheels to help us along the path of growth…”
In the light of what is happening in my life, I really hope so. And I hope whatever is coming is positive and it is going to be much better than before.
I pray things will work out this year for you.
Serpedipity trio is the best. Thank you for sharing!
Serendipity is what every travelers seek when going somewhere.
May it meet us at every step of our travels. 😉
Chance encounters is sometimes the only way or thing that can change our lives. Very great post.
Seriously love these posts! So inspiring – this is a great one!
I have had so many chance encounters and some of them have been good and some bad. You’re right, we don’t travel this world alone so it’s bound to happen.
I think chance encounters are meant to happen. Nothing is a coincidence.
So why does the word exist?
Beautiful. Haiku can tell a story in just a few words. Thank you for sharing.
Your posts are always so uplifting, thanks for sharing!
A chance meeting can change so many things. It could give some one hope, new direction, maybe a new love. That’s the beauty of them and why we should be nice to everyone we meet. You never know how your encounter may change someone
I loved this haiku theme to chance encounters! It was a pleasant surprise!
Very, very thoughtful! Chance encounters have changed my life 🙂
Great play of words. I love the word serendipity, so cool and reminds me of the romantic movie.
I like that you ended with a new day has dawned. I think it speaks very well to the fact that each day is a new chance to grow! I really enjoyed this Haiku.