Fred is currently writing a novel. He’s having difficulty wrapping up a particular section of the book, so in true Fred style, he went the unconventional route and turned to a tarot deck to find some answers. On the first day, he pulled these three cards, and tried to read into their meaning to gain insight into his story:
Having made no significant progress on day two, he again shuffled the deck three times, cut the deck three times, and then pulled three more cards. This was the uncanny result:
Both days produced a very similar card draw… eerily similar. What did it mean? Fred deduced that his story had to be in the cards, and has been brainstorming meaning based on those cards ever since.
The situation I’m describing here is what’s called a synchronistic event. Synchronicity is defined as “the simultaneous occurrence of events which appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection.” If you haven’t called it by its proper name, you’ve probably received the message in other ways.
In other words, the universe has given you a sign.
Speaking of, that’s exactly how some people describe this concept. Synchronicities have been explained as signs that the universe is attempting to “communicate" with you, and they happen in such a way that they are unusual enough to catch your attention or stop you in your tracks. Signs of synchronicity include things like:
repeating numbers;
thinking about someone and then that person calls, texts or emails you;
experiencing “perfect timing;”
having a dream about something relevant;
hearing or seeing the same thing over and over.
These benefit our emotions; they enrich our lives in ways that make us feel that there are deeper mysteries waiting to be explored. Synchronistic signs help us to believe that there’s more to the universe than we’re capable of knowing, and that thought can be enough to continue to propel us forward in our daily and creative activities.
It's a concept that comes up in Paulo Coelho's novel, The Alchemist. Over the course of the character's narrative, Coelho tells the reader, “To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only real obligation. All things are one. When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it." If you buy into the theory and ascribe it to creativity, once you find the project that sets your heart and brain on fire, start looking for your signs, because...
...they should start to appear everywhere, and repeatedly. Case in point, Fred's tarot cards.
However, let's set up a little thought experiment, shall we?
Assume for a moment, you're seated in your favorite cafe, working on this fire project you've got going on, and then a song comes on over the sound system. You start humming along and realize that the song is perfectly aligned with the moment in your story, and it provides idea fodder to keep you writing more, and suddenly, you're blitzed with more ideas than you can handle.
Is it a sign from the universe? Synchronicity? Are you seeing the ending of your novel as a symbol in your latte?
There are a few things that might be going on here, and for the sake of simplicity, I decided not to even bring Carl Jung and his theories into this blog post.
For one, you might be over-caffeinated and all neurons are firing. You're thinking well, you've got the laptop open, and you're actually putting the time into writing.
Two, you're dialed into what you're doing. Your brain is filtering out the stuff you don't need and pulling in what's relevant, so that song that just set your fingers on fire across the keyboard? It wasn't divine intervention, so much as the law of attraction.
Or, maybe it's a third option. The soul of the universe birthed you for the purpose of writing a novel that's set to change the course of your very existence. I say that with only the littlest hint of sarcasm, too, because I experience synchronistic events ON THE DAILY. Numbers repeat, my children say things that I swear are in my head, I dream events before they happen...
I also drink way too much coffee.
Do you see signs in your creative life? Let us know with a heart or a comment! Or, fuel our capacity for accepting signs into our lives..