It's Not Coincidence, It's Synchronicity
Have you ever been about to call someone, then your phone rings and it’s them? Or, you meet someone in a place you’d never in a million years have expected them to be? Or, that person you need appears out of nowhere at exactly the right time? This is synchronicity.
We’ve all experienced the kinds of coincidences that seem so unlikely they appear to be almost magical and epiphanic. Indeed, it’s as if there are connections between events, people, or information through invisible threads that we can only glimpse at certain times. According to the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, these aren’t coincidences, but they’re due to synchronicity. It’s one of the most enigmatic and surprising aspects of the universe.
“There is no such thing as chance, and what seem to us merest accident springs from the deepest source of destiny.”
-Friedrich Schiller-
Synchronicity
The concept of synchronicity has existed at least since the Vedas but it was Carl Jung who actually coined the term. He referred to it as ” the coming together of inner and outer events in a way that cannot be explained by cause and effect and that is meaningful to the observer”.
Jung came to the conclusion that there exists an intimate connection between the individual and their environment. At certain moments, it exerts an attraction that ends up creating coincident circumstances. These have real value for the people who experience them. For instance, they may see them as having symbolic meanings or being an external manifestation of their collective unconscious. In fact, it’s these types of events that are usually attributed to chance, luck, or even magic, according to our beliefs.
On the physical plane, synchronicity represents an idea or solution that hides in our mind, made up of surprise and coincidence.
Like Jung, Wolfgang Pauli, Nobel laureate in physics, thought that synchronicity was one of the expressions that characterized the unus mundus, a unified reality from which everything that exists emerges and returns. This conception coincides with the theory of totality and the implicate order of quantum mechanics devised by the American physicist, David Bohm.
“We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.”
-William James-
Magic moments
Synchronous experiences usually come into our lives when we least expect them. Furthermore, they influence our way of thinking and sometimes even completely change the course we’re taking. However, for this to happen, we have to be receptive and attentive to the world around us. In fact, we have to create an openness to the possibility of synchronicity.
Therefore, the more alert you are with respect to your environment, the more likely it is that you’ll experience synchronous events. Therefore, pay attention to what may appear to be the most insignificant of conversations, listen to songs on the radio, or even adverts. You just have to be vigilant and you’ll find synchronicity.
Let your circumstances flow and don’t force or press for events to occur. In addition, maintain a receptive and open attitude. Let yourself be carried away by your intuition and your inner wisdom. In this way, you’ll open yourself to the ‘magic’ that synchronicity offers. As a matter of fact, if you know how to listen to it, it can become a good guide for your life.
Synchronicity is one of the many universal laws that can’t be unequivocally proven. Nevertheless, its presence has guided the lives of many people and it’s been present throughout the history of humanity. Indeed, this is why it’s maintained its importance. After all, remember Carlos Castaneda told us in his book, The Teachings of Don Juan, that luck is actually a form of power.
Perhaps even this article has been the result of synchronicity…