Synchronicity - Living in the Flow

 Flow is the natural, effortless unfolding of our life in a way that moves us toward wholeness and harmony.

                        From The Power of Flow, by Charlene Belitz and Meg Lundstrum

Looking back over my life, there were expanses of time where things felt easy and effortless; there were other stretches of time where it felt that there were roadblocks at every turn. Just life? I used to think so. But having become aware of synchronicity, I’ve changed my mind.

Carl Jung described synchronicity 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.” This is a difficult concept for a society raised on “Just the facts.” We were taught to rely on logic, intellect and events that can be seen and explained. Our entire educational system and thought patterns have been, for centuries, based on empirical information.

But in recent years, science and physics have proven that the belief of the person performing the experiment affects the outcome. That results can be affected by the intention and expectation of the experimenter.

I remember reading The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield many years ago. It was the first time I heard suggested that ‘there are no coincidences’ and, through the story, I felt encouraged to play with that idea. To me, this meant noticing patterns and details, events that would have gone unnoticed previously.

For example, I remember driving down I-95 to a meeting that I was very anxious about. I was spinning the anticipated details around in my head, quickly raising my level of stress. I noticed a car that had been next to me for some time and when I looked over, the driver gave me the sweetest smile, then pulled ahead. I felt that I had been visited by an angel, and I stopped the anxiety producing thinking.

Sound wacky? Maybe. But it works for me.

Most synchronistic events in our lives either go unnoticed or are explained as simply coincidence, luck or happenstance. But life events started looking differently to me when I made the choice to notice -- when I was willing to see meaning in mundane events. Simply noticing makes a difference.