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Tuesday 3 February 2009

Synchronicity or Coincidence?

In the past few day I have been having some 'coincidences/ synchronicity' in my life. I've been having some strange dreams about people from my past, then having them re-appear in my life. Yesterday I had a song in my head all day then having hubby come home singing that exact song. Last night I woke up from a nightmare where I was alone in a car that crashed through a guardrail, I was careening down and embankment towards a river. The radio was blaring the song "Goodbye Stranger "(... its been nice, Hope you find your paradise), the time on the radio display kept flashing 4:44. When I woke up, I went downstairs to get a drink and glanced at the computer monitor and the time was 4:44 -- kind of blows my mind! There were even a couple of 'coincidences' I have had regarding a few of you out there in blogland. These 'occurrences' over the past few days have really got me thinking...
Am I connecting dots were there aren't any or are they 'meaningful' coincidences??
Coincidence means two things happening simultaneously, in its definition implies that the two things happened by chance.

Synchronicity
is a series of coincidences that seem to add up to something meaningful. It has to do with the odds of two or more events happening. And especially if they have a special relationship to the person experiencing them.

Synchronicity, by Carl Jung's definition, is two or more events that occur within a meaningful manner but are causally unrelated. The chance of these events occurring by random chance are very small.

Have you ever experienced synchronicity in your life? And if so, what are your most interesting experiences with it?

Some links I find interesting:
Synchronicity: How to Decode Life’s Secret Messages
Carl Jung Resources
The skeptic's Dictionary
Global Consciousness Project
Global Consciousness Project Video
The Police - Synchronicity I
The Police - Synchronicity II

Reader recommendations:
Only a Movie recommends What the Beep Do We Know!? Down the Rabbit Hole
crone51 recommends Rupert Sheldrake

PS. I added at poll over on my sidebar as part of my BIP. If you would take a moment to participate, I would appreciate it!

14 comments:

cheatymoon said...

Wow Jack. Synchronicity is my #1 favorite thing to talk about and the blog post that has been written in my head since I've started my blog.

In fact, I've got one in draft form now that has been saved for about a week now. It probably would have freaked you out if I had posted it today, eh?

Anyway, yes I have this experience ALL THE TIME. One example - A few summers ago, when my son went to sleepaway camp for the first time, I had a song stuck in my head the entire 2 weeks. And it wasn't it a song I'm a fan of. Turned out it was one of the few songs they listened to during the whole camp session.

It really happens with me all the time and for me, just a reminder that things are going as they should...

I am curious to read what others have to say...

Jack said...

Oh my Erin, that would have totally freaked me out!

Sometimes I get this feeling my mom is going to pop in so I start tidying up, and sure enough she stops by.

So do you find the connection is with people close to you? Have you ever had a 'synchronicity/coincidence' connection with a stranger?

I'm looking forward to reading other commenters thoughts as well.

Jack said...

Erin, post it... we can have a synchronicity - themed week ;)

Amber said...

LOL@you two
Well, I'd say it's a sign that there's a reason you should be paying attention to the things around you, that there's something that either needs to be observed or the like. I guess that makes me a synchronicity believer.

Terri said...

I have certain times of my life when a lot of synchronous things happen. I've learned to pay attention - not necessarily for anything profound, but I usually learn something or at least get curious. I always think it's so cool - you know there are parts of our brains we aren't exercising that pick up stuff from out in the ether.

I am a strong believer!

Madeleine said...

I believe in it, I've had strange things happen to me at different times in my life. And other times nothing it seems to go in cycles, Very interesting Jack

LarryG said...

i don't know about coincidence being totally random either.
Synchronous happenings are definitely real (*in my opinion)

Have a lovely day.

Shadow said...

this happens to me too. i love it yet it scares me a bit too all at the same time. my dreams have been equally crazy and intense of late...

Shadow said...

oops, pressed the wrong button...

i think it happens to a lot of people more often than they think, but it takes noticing and being aware, to recognise it, and that some people just either don't, or shrug off as 'nonsense'.

cheatymoon said...

Hey Jack, I'm not sure I will post it for a while, but when I do I will link back to you.

Just wanted to let you know that last night I was typing the word *Santa* and exactly as I was typing it, someone was saying *santa* on TV. Then, a few minutes later, my son was reading off a box of granola bars and he read the word *nature* just as someone was saying *nature* on TV.

Maybe I was hypervigilant yesterday because of your post, but they were both good ones!

Jack said...

So maybe synchronicities happen to us all the time, but we are just so busy with our lives that we don't notice until it slaps us in the face.

"it seems to go in cycles"... I find that I have a chain of these types of 'coincidences' and then nothing for the longest time too.

Beth said...

I feel like my husband and I are together because of synchronicity (or it could just be luck). I knew who he was because he used to own several restaurants in town. One night, when I was fresh from divorce court, I saw him sitting on the porch swing at a local restaurant. When he looked up at me, I remember thinking I could look into those eyes forever. We kept running into each other until we finally met while we had our kids at a birthday party. From there, we became best friends until I finally gave in and went out with him. Now 13 years later, we have been married for 4 years. I can't imagine my life without him.

InventingLiz said...

Hi Jack - thanks for stopping by my place and leaving a comment!

Here's an example of synchronicity that came to mind when I read your post. I'm in the process of adopting, and a while back when I was still just thinking about becoming a single mother - doing research, deciding between adoption and trying to get pregnant, figuring out if I could really manage to do it - I was at a family event and one of my sisters turned to me out of the blue and said "how come you're not planning to have kids? you'd be a great mother."

crone51 said...

I came to visit because I saw that you linked to the Global Consciousness project over on only a movie's blog... Wanted to ask you if you were familiar with Rupert Sheldrake's stuff...you might want to give him a google... ( that sounds oddly dirty!).

Great blog!