I agree with you on the enchantment that occurs when we say “what if?” And allow ourselves to read into synchronicities in a new way. It does make life more magic.

I wonder if it will be able to make life quite as magic though if we’re tearing ourselves in two between the magical narrative and the “but this is simply a coincidence I am reading into.”

The latter seems to whitewash synchronicities.

I’ve been there before and it has its place (putting synchronicities in their place as convenient narratives) it helps us stay grounded but I don’t think it allows them their full effect.

To say synchronicities are a nice way to spin a narrative while denying them any true merit can get us a few treasured moments of “well that was nice,” but it’s playing a game with the mind.

This story reflects a personal superstition Jung had throughout his life: He was a believer in the paranormal.

Rather than treat it as a superstition I’d think to truly get the most out of synchronicities would require actually believing in them. (Which admittedly can be dangerous as it can cause delusion just as easily.)

The trick is to understand it as a subjective experience rather than a message from a universal authority as so many would be prophets do.

I think this was the beauty of Jung, he saw these experiences as subjective to his life and lived by them. It seems to have greatly empowered him in a way I don’t think whitewashing synchronicities as convenient narratives will allow.

I know it took me a long time to move away from the skeptic putting a narrative tool to use (I’m a big fan of the scientific method) but when I started to accept lived experiences as a mystery of their own it opened up a lot more of life’s magic.

Here are two articles inspired by synchronicities: the first described learning about a new concept in Balinese Hinduism, the second describes a crazy day of synchs that opened a lot of doors.

I try not to share links to articles on other’s walls. Honestly, I feel it’s less than classy but I find rather than talking about synchronicities as abstractions sharing the stories of how they pop up in life can help us see them in their subjective nature while seeing just how very real they can be beyond a convenient “lucky narrative.”

Thanks for the article. I really do wish more people will talk about our narratives and the synchs that happen in our life. I just find myself moving more from the thinking approach to the “superstitious intuition.”