Barb, thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. The fact that being less intentional made you think of serendipity is exactly where I was headed. I love your definition of serendipity, too. I was already thinking through a follow up post to this one, about paying attention. 

Jodi, I really like how you describe this approach to balance: "crafting a plan, but holding it loosely." You also used the phrase "be open," which is key to what I'm trying to do. I suspect that exciting things are happening around us all the time, and that we miss them by our lack of openness. Thanks for your comment, and may 2009 be a blessing for you, too!

Deb, I think "accidental" can be one way to think about the opposite of "intentional." Isn't it interesting how "accidental" seems to carry negative connotations? (Even though you rightly point out that accidents can be happy ones.) I guess what I don't like about that word here is that is suggests that things just happen to us, willy nilly. I believe there's something bigger going on, and that my gut or my instincts or the nudging of God's spirit (or whatever you want to call it) is often more spot-on than my logic and intellect. I agree--it can be scary, though! I will try to write some follow up posts about my little baby steps forward and back. Thanks for reading!

blackwasp19, I'm really glad you brought the word "contrived" into the conversation. I guess that's what I often feel the result is when I think through things a bit too much and try too hard to make a specific thing happen. It's like trying to find a spouse, right? The more you come up with a plan for meeting the perfect person, the less natural (and probably less successful) the search becomes. Ultimately, I do think living intentionally is a really good thing. It's finding that thin line, as you pointed out, that's important.