In my own mind, I sometimes have a hard time differentiating serendipity and synchronicity. I think the two don’t necessarily have to be mutually exclusive of one another. But this past week, I’ve had two specific events in my life that seem to point out the difference.
Serendipitous Event
I was contemplating purchasing a riding lawn mower and over the past week had done some online shopping to compare prices. I was a bit surprised by how expensive the latest models were. I was talking with a teaching friend at school one day and mentioned that I was shopping for a riding mower. She “just so happened” to be going to sell hers. The price she was asking for her slightly-used rider was less than half of the prices I had seen. The deal was done. I randomly mentioned what I was looking for and she just happened to be selling that same exact thing. A fortunate series of events.
Synchronistic Event
I recently made a new friend online who lives far away in the state of Oregon. In our Sunday conversation, she mentioned that she was going out with her daughter to pick morels, a type of edible mushroom. That very morning, I had picked out a Miami Dolphin jersey to wear with the name “Morral” on the back. Two words who had different spellings, but the same pronunciations. What are the chances of that? I hadn’t worn that jersey, which by the way had the player’s name misspelled, in nearly a year. But before my friend announcing her plans for the day across the country, I had chosen to wear that particular jersey. What are the chances of that?
What does it all mean you might ask???
I’ve been asked more than once what serendipitous and synchronsitic events might mean to me. In this case of the riding mower purchase, I had put my intentions out into the universe and the universe had responded. The key was that I chose to share with my teaching friend that I was shopping for a riding mower. Had a not “put that out there,” the purchase would not have taken place. If the mower in question hadn’t been too large for her small frame, she would still be using it. The two events coincided in time and place.
In the case of the football jersey/mushroom event, it means that the connection that I had made with the friend in Oregon holds something advantageous in store for both of us. While it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to get together cross-country, it does mean that our online meeting was not by chance and holds possible benefits for us both, whether we actually ever meet or not.
David Lee
David Lee 