Intuition and Synchronicity – Two Power Tools

As a literal thinker I am practical, objective, pragmatic, linear, straight forward, and direct; every adjective that makes believing in fairies nearly impossible.

Left brained all the way! I like spreadsheets, order, symmetry, logic and proof. I believe it when I see it.

Rough, I know.

When I was 45 years old, I had a carotid dissection after over straining my neck. I won’t bore you with the medical nuance; a click of the hyperlink will answer any burning questions. When I had a second bilateral one 3 years later, it really got my attention.

There were more complications after the second one, and during my time in the ICU, I left my body.

My neurologist said I survived a second lighting strike; “had any other risk factors been present, smoking, weight, cholesterol, you would not have survived.”

Cut to the chase, shall we?

Talk about putting the major breaks on complacency!

My already wounded brain spun like a top and I was overwhelmed with hyper anxiousness. Why was I spared? What was my life’s purpose? Am I doing what I am supposed to? I couldn’t check all the boxes and I became very anxious.

It was high level! The kind of anxiety that gets medicated.

I trusted my intuition and declined medication in favor of feeling lucid. I hoped the mental trauma would deliver answers or direction or clarity. Despite being anxious about why I was spared and alive, I was. I wanted to find my place and continue living.

I preferred books when I needed answers. I read about ESP, spirituality and synchronicity.

They all contained different yet purposeful meaning and clarity. I have an intuitive nature and always put faith in my gut feelings, but when I experienced lucid dreams, premonitions and other intangibles, my left-brained-self labeled them impractical or coincidental.

Collectively, the books softened my pragmatic ways and enabled me to feel empathy and the intangible.

Two years after my second dissection, my business was sold; and my house and most of its contents were on the market. Adios Chicago.

I started writing.

As I pieced together the story line for my memoir Sailing Naked, reflecting on years of ebb and flow, I let go of the practical, objective, prove-it-to-me ways in favor of seeing a pattern of synchronicities and dreams that told a much deeper story.

Carl Jung, a Swiss Psychiatrist, first introduced the idea of synchronicities, something he defines as meaningful coincidences.  Jung’s belief was,

“The experience of two or more events that are causally unrelated yet are experienced as occurring together in a meaningful manner. Just as events may be connected by causality, they may also be connected by meaning. Events connected by meaning need not have an explanation in terms of causality.”

I reflected on many casual events, sometimes spanning years in separation, that contained significant meaning. Today, I embrace the illogical and impractical when the dots they connect contain meaning or tell a story. Even if only for me.

Is it a coincidence when the favorite song of your departed loved one pops on the radio after you are in deep thought about them?

Is it a coincidence when you randomly bump into someone that has been on your mind for days?

Is it a coincidence when something that nags at you for days or weeks happens?

Feathers, cardinals, songs, random happenings align with our beliefs because of how they are interpreted. Positive and insightful in favor of negative and cynical. In the end, it doesn’t even matter what others think, only what you feel and believe.

No harm, no foul.

Intuition is a powerful influence and should be trusted like your best friend. Synchronicity happens and needs only your immediate attention.

Time to trust your intuition and pay attention to ‘coincidences,’ you will be happy you did.