Friday, July 15, 2011

Timing Is Everything


Every since I took this picture last weekend, I've been thinking about timing and the impact the phrase "in the right place at the right time" has had on so many of the paths-- large and small, my life has taken. I realize this isn't a fabulous photograph-- the butterfly is a little blurry and it's not framed all that great, but it's the fact that I've never seen a blue butterfly before and that I just happened to be in that exact spot at that exact time to snap the photo with the wings showing my favorite color blue that's made me so happy.

When I checked my camera to see if I'd captured the butterfly before it flew away I was excited as a school girl which is an oddly unusual thing for me to do. It's been many decades since I was even remotely considered "a girl" and the excitement it generated was pretty out of proportion for me. Nevertheless, I started thinking about the times in my life I've "been in the right place...."

The top of my list would have to be the airport in Milan, Italy where I met my husband thanks to a very delayed flight back to Los Angeles. The odds of us both being in the same place at the same time with a third person who could introduce us is so out of the norm that I hesitate to think what would have happened had I slept in that morning 22 years ago and taken a later flight.

There was another time everything worked perfectly in my favor and I was directly outside the hospital delivery room at the precise moment my oldest niece was born....Which actually meant that several other people were NOT in the right place at the right time *ahem*security*cough* so I could sneak into that area of the hospital. I was even more lucky that the head nurse took pity on me and actually brought my niece out for me to hold when she was just minutes old. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about how beautiful and tiny she was in my arms.

And then there was the time I was in the doorway of Godson's kindergarten at the end of the day to hear another child ask him who the lady was picking him up. His deadpan response was "she's my wife". Being in the right place at the right time gave me one of my fondest memories of carpooling him after school.

It's the little things-- and big things-- that make me appreciate "perfect timing". Why the blue butterfly has me taking a trip down memory lane remembering these things is a mystery but I'm enjoy the mental tour of the finer times of my life.

Have you been in the right place at the right time?
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins

36 comments:

  1. Speaking of timing, it is quite interesting that I should read this post now because I've been pondering a passage that I read today in "Infinite Jest". It reads, "...both destiny's kisses and its dope-slaps illustrate an individual person's basic personal powerlessness over the really meaningful events in his life." Your post made me think of it even more and find some new understanding in it.

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  2. Oh oh oh I love that picture..I want to play with it LOL!!
    I have had that perfect timing thing so many times. Especially since I started expecting good things to come to me! I love the story of you hubby..that is wonderful hon!
    Hugs and love to you hon, Sarah

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  3. i think i love your god son... no, i'm sure i do. ; )
    xoxo

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  4. Don't you love think about those what if situations had you not been at the right place at the right time?

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  5. you have two husbands - that's funny.
    Life is a mystery. There are lots of chance events involved but you need to be aware when luck comes by because if you are sleeping (sleeping in?) you will probably miss it.
    thought provoking post.

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  6. Oh I forgot to ask - it has been reported on the news for days now - 405 closed - traffic jams - are you stuck? I thought a person could make a boom business selling soft drinks and tacos on side of the road in that backup.

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  7. I love this post, Joanna. I often tell folks that the only time in my 66 years that I've ever been in the right place at the right time was when I became part of the new specialty of forensic nursing, when I was there with 73 other nurses in August of 1992 in Minnesota to form the International Association of Forensic Nurses - the real passion of my life.

    Oh, yes, there have been other special times and occasions but that was earth shattering for me and it was professionally the most meaningful and important part of the 45 years of my nursing life.

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  8. "She's my wife" - quit witted! Hilarious!

    This is a thought-provoking post. I bet I'll be thinking about it all weekend.

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  9. This is oh so true. I couldn't agree with you more. We ran into all kinds of situations during our trips where timing provided such unexpected joy.

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  10. Seems we are traveling on the same bus today. I am talking about reflections of our lives!! Hmmmm! Were you looking over my shoulder? Ha!!
    Lovely post and I love your journey down memory lane and the blue butterfly.
    Hugging you
    SueAnn

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  11. me thinks your godson is a chip off the ol' block.

    right place right time is the essential for photography -- i wish it happened to me more often. I have some gems over the years, though.

    how about wrong place wrong time? I've had plenty of those....perhaps a post is in order.

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  12. What a great post. There are so many times in my life that I feel like I was at the right place at the right time. Like right now, reading this post, reminding me of those times.

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  13. Joanna that is an absolutely beautiful photograph, the colours, the composition, as far as I'm concerned! Enjoyed your story today.

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  14. I love the story about your Godson...how precious. They are all wonderful memories. And the photo IS good!!

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  15. Blue? Butterfly. Wow. I would be dancing all over the lawn if I saw a blue butterfly, much less caught it on the camera. Double wow. Maybe blue butterflies are only in California.

    Keep sharing more of your memories. The one about godson's quip is one for the books indeed.

    Hugs to you, my friend. Glad your strength is what you need for all the traveling and activities.

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  16. i firmly believe nothing is random...so i am pretty much always in the right place at the right time...i think the trick is in recognizing those opportunities when they come...meeting my love is surely one of them as well...

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  17. I enjoyed reading your post and it is great food for thought. I like your examples of being in the right place at the right time. A moment that comes to mind was the morning I got up early when in Estes Park, CO. It was a cold morning in August, yes August, the sun was rising and the lights in the mountains created a beautiful sky. I woke my husband to grab the camera to capture it. He ran outside the motel room to take a few pictures and the moment was gone in two minutes.

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  18. Joanna darling,
    First and foremost, if I ever leave cute hubby I'm looking up your Godson. His comment made me burst out laughing.
    Secondly, are you crazy? How can you possibly not realize that is certainly a perfect photo? The fact that the butterfly is a tiny bit blurry, in flight, captures the movement and life that is there. Bravo to you for an excellent photograph!
    I am rarely in the right place at the right time. Usually I'm the one who has just blurted something out that makes everyone else in the room glad that they're not me. I did, however, have the good fortune to meet John Lennon, and also Ray Charles (who hugged me twice). When I look back at my life, I can't believe how blessed I am in spite of the many stupid things that I've done. There aren't defining moments, really. I'm just glad to be here.
    You are one of my most favorite "bloggers", and I was really excited to see that you had left me a comment. All of those sweet things you said to me.....ditto to you dear girl. xo d

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  19. I had as much fun reading the comments as I did the post. They are right: Godson is a godsend! And it does give food for thought, and maybe fodder for a good post, like this one. I'll be thinking about your question for a while. Nothing just pops into my mind right now.

    Have a great weekend! I so enjoy your posts.

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  20. Very sweet post.

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  21. I have, and I think I'll do a post about it, next week! I have never seen a blue butterfly! Amazing!

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  22. The twists and turns of our lives are a mystery. I like what Brian Miller, above, said about recognizing opportunities. What do we miss because we just aren't looking?

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  23. This is such a lovely and thought-provoking post, Joanna! It's true that there are moments in our lives when an opportunity comes -- whether it's to take a gorgeous picture of a butterfly or to meet the love of your life -- that happens against all odds and so enriches and changes your life's direction.

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  24. Being in the right place at the right are gifts we're given at the most unexpected times! You have some wonderful ones, especially meeting your husband that way. Destiny.

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  25. The older I get the less I believe in coincidence - it makes life so exciting! The best example of perfect timing is the night I met my husband, almost 30 years ago.

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  26. this post of perfect timing is so perfect for me joanna. thank you. thank you for everything. for being there, for being my first friend. for helping me on this journey.

    to me destiny is not an accident, it is predestined by God. it was not an accident that you didn't sleep in that morning in milan.

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  27. I love that picture!

    The right timing has so much to do with everything. Love. Career. Education. Success. Failure. So many roads we might have travelled had the timing been different...

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  28. i'm so glad the beautiful butterfly took you down memory lane. Your words flow in ways that make me smile and ponder :)

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  29. Yes I have! Love this shot, beautiful!

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  30. I loved that post.

    That is the great thing about getting older, you gain more perspective.

    I really loved this post.

    Now you have me thinking..

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  31. I love that story about you being his wife. It made me smile.
    I will have to think about the timing thing. It's certainly caused a stir here on your comments.

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  32. Loved the theme of todays post. Yes I have had a "right place/right time" but would have to think about it. I have missed reading your posts. Just toooooo much going on. PS - love the butterfly, I am a blue person also

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  33. Timing is everything and I like to think of them as my treasures in life. Your blue butterfly is not only beautiful, but perfectly captured my friend. I love the "wife" moment you caught. :) xo

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  34. That unplanned sense of timing.. which allows us to meet someone or avoid something bad... it all seems so purposeful. It must be. That beautiful butterfly was there to evoke a few fond memories of your own.

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  35. timing and serendipity!

    your memories provided a nice smile and chuckle for the day.

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  36. Amen amen amen! I'm all about the right time and right place. It's how I AM the way I am now. And it's also about being in NOT the right place at the right time. How often have we escaped injury or something because we weren't in the wrong place?

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