Fate and Destiny

I've been thinking a lot about Fate recently. There are numerous goddesses (and they always seem to be goddesses) associated with Fate: the Greek Moirai, the Roman Parcae, the Norse Norns. I think it's a human thing to wonder if the events that transpire in our lives are part of some greater purpose. Or to shift blame from our own choices and actions onto the notion that something was meant to be. It's both an explanation of why things happen, and a means of absolution.

The goddesses of Fate are three, representing past, present, and future; birth, life, death. They are weavers of the threads of life: one spins, one measures, one cuts. They are independent of the gods, and indeed the gods themselves cannot avoid their decrees.

"Nothing happens without a reason," is a popular saying. As an optimistic person who tries to find whatever good can be taken from a situation, I've tended to believe this. It can be difficult to see in the moment, but more often than not, when something in my life changes and I look back upon the series of events that led up to it, there does seem to be an underlying purpose. Or perhaps it's just my desire to believe that even seemingly random events are not random at all.

The notion of destiny is a little frightening, in my view. I have always believed in free will. Circumstances, geography, birth, determine where you begin, and play a part in where you go, but it's impossible to discount the impact our choices and behavior have on our lives. I can't believe that we are powerless to change the course of our lives.
People are inherently unpredictable. The randomness with which one might turn right instead of left, or leave thirty minutes later, or turn away at the moment when eyes might meet - it's hard to imagine that Fate can control all of these seemingly insignificant instances that can change the course of events in a heartbeat.

On the other hand, maybe there doesn't need to be a distinction between free will and Fate. Perhaps we're free to choose what we will, but certain key pieces of our lives - people we meet, places we go, skills we learn - are inevitable. In the last few years I've been more and more inclined to believe it. It's true that I've deliberately taken steps toward everything that now makes up my life, but there's also an odd sense of destiny about how it's all ended up. Particularly in recent days, I can't shake the notion that somehow everything has been moving toward this moment.

Is it possible that every decision I've made has somehow led me here, not by random happenstance but by design?

Norns only know. But it's fascinating to contemplate.