Kismet & the Places That Shape Us

I grew up in a place where summer buzzed. Quite literally, there was a constant hum of cicadas and crickets and frogs and bees. Where the air was thick with honeysuckle, the grass was freckled with clover, and fireflies danced like little spirits on sticky August nights. Those days of running barefoot, watching storms from the safety of our deck, and sleeping outside are long over, but the whiff of fresh-cut grass or the heat coming off the pavement after rain and a serenade of bugs can take me right back. Where we grow up, the sights and smells and sounds, the flavors, the people, the culture, it etches into your bones.

Place is the backdrop, but often timing writes the script. Sometimes it’s a season of life, sometimes it’s the person you meet at just the right (or wrong) moment, a “yes” to an invitation, an idea, a chance - that can reroute everything.

After this week’s episode, with David Bedford, I’ve been thinking about the idea of kismet.  That perfect and sometimes messy mix of the place you come from, the people you meet, and the curveballs life throws when you’re not looking.

“There are places I remember all my life, though some have changed…”

— In My Life

David has lived a life filled with all three. A Beatles historian, author, and lifelong Liverpudlian, David grew up just steps from where Ringo was born, and raised his family off Penny Lane.

In our conversation, he painted a vivid picture of Liverpool at a very specific moment in history: post-war recovery, a bustling port city trading cultures and music across the Atlantic, and a chain of chance encounters that quietly set the stage for four local lads to change music forever. It’s a story full of lesser-known forces and influences that only Liverpool at that time could offer.

“Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends…”

— With a Little Help from My Friends

David’s personal story is full of those “what if” moments, too, the kind that shift everything without warning. From a chronic illness diagnosis that ended his corporate career, to a writing project that led him to play in the Quarrymen (yes, those Quarrymen), David’s story reminds us that the most unexpected turns can still lead us back to ourselves. That’s the thing with kismet, it’s always at work, even when we don’t notice.

 “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

— The End

If you’re open to it, this week, say yes to one thing you’d usually overthink, postpone, or give a quick no. It could be an invite, a small adventure, a new food, a different route home, anything that nudges you out of your usual script. See where it takes you.

xoxo,

Meghan