Synchronicity in the News: Mama and Baby

Just came across an interesting news article that said that mothers and babies can synchronize their heartbeats just by looking at one another. This reminds me of the turtle post from earlier this week.

Two stories in one week about ways in which seemingly separate beings are in sync is almost a synchro in itself.

So, now researchers are "proving" that people are "connected."

But you and I already knew that, didn't we?

Mirror Synchronicity: Yoda

For some strange reason, Yoda keeps coming up for me this week. It started when I was in an online discussion and I asked if there were any movie depictions of a "good" death. One of my colleagues suggested Yoda's death.

Then the very next day in my news feed, an article "Scientists are about to find the Force". Illustrating the article was a picture of Yoda:

Now for those of us who believe in synchronicities, that might have been enough to 'count' but I wasn't sure that it was blogworthy... so I noted it and then moved on.

Today, I went to wish a friend happy birthday on his Facebook page, and in the third picture was a little picture of Yoda. Apparently he had posted it at Thanksgiving. And since there was a built in message, I paid attention.

Thankful I am.

Synchronicity in the News: Turtles

This is the ultimate in synchronicity - turtles synchronize their births. Now, before you say that they were all conceived at the same time, the article mentions that due to environmental conditions the eggs actually develop at different rates but somehow they all come together and hatch in unison. This is just one more example that demonstrates the universe is much more complex and connected than we can even fathom.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/12/02/143063453/study-finds-turtle-embryos-communicate-to-synchronize-hatching?sc=fb&cc=fp

Directional Synchronicity: Highly Recommended

Recently I moved into a house that needed some roof repairs. I remembered last year when we almost bought a different house I had a conversation with a roofer that I had found on Angie's List (A recommendation website for services). I was so impressed with my conversation with Bradley from Bradley Builders that I decided that I wanted to call him again, a year later.

Because he is highly recommended, it did take a few weeks before he could get out to our house, which was okay because it was not an emergency. He was outside working when I heard a knock at the door. I went to the front door and saw him pounding so I assumed that was what I had heard. Then I heard another knock. He was still out the front door and did not look like he was trying to get my attention so I went and looked at the back door. No one was there. I remembered that my garage door was open so I went to the door to the garage and my dad was standing there.

I was surprised to see him. Since I moved to this house in May, my dad has not ever "dropped by." My dad immediately said, "What's Brad doing here?" I said, "You know him?" and he said, "Yes, he was my next door neighbor 15 years ago." Now here is the synchronicity. I had just seen my dad the day before but he decided for some reason that he needed to come over and bring me some magazines that he had for me. Were it not for his random drop-in on the same day at the same time the roofer was there, I would not have known that they were neighbors. I had already received excellent care from the roofer, but when he found out my dad was his former neighbor, I think that was the icing on the cake!

We're going to need a new roof in a couple of years and even though it's not the type of roof that Bradley would do, he still spent a significant amount of time walking me around and showing me what I will need to tell the roofers that come.

Mirror Synchronicity: The Four Winds

This is my friend Ross's powerful synchronicity - in his own words:

Tribe of the Four Winds:

Ever since I was in outdoor drama back in 1982, I have regarded the arrowhead as a good luck piece. I have a keychain with a fob in the shape of an arrowhead which I have used for close to 30 years. The morning I bought a car after years of riding a bicycle, I found an arrowhead in a field where I was working. I have worn an arrowhead pendant on a necklace for years

.

Within the past two years, I have become more aware of my spirituality, and my interest in all things metaphysical has grown. In a dream, I was told by one of my spirit guides that I needed to start praying again, and my guide gave me a prayer to use, “As the Eagle spreads its wings to protect its nest from the storm, so protect this house from evil.” I was to say this prayer using the pendant around my neck. In my dream, the pendant was silver and in the shape of an eagle, and it was inlaid with turquoise chips. So the next day I started searching online for an eagle pendant with inlaid turquoise.

After much searching, I found an eagle motif with inlaid turquoise chips, and as an extra bonus, it was in the shape of an arrowhead!

So I bought it! [I have since learned, too, that my Power Animal is the Goose, and a representation of the Goose is the Arrowhead because geese fly in chevron patterns.]

When my best friend Michael saw it, he wanted one, too, but he wanted one with a wolf design. I remembered seeing one with a wolf design when I was searching for the eagle. So I bought him one with a wolf. He loved it!

Months later, one of Michael’s army buddies, Brian, came to Ohio for a visit, and he noticed our matching necklaces. He really liked them, but he wanted one with a bear. So I got online, and sure enough, there was one with a bear!

Michael paid for it and sent it to him, and Brian loved it.

Last summer, Michael and I took a trip to North Carolina to move his teenage daughter to Ohio. While down there, we met up with some of Michael’s other friends. One guy, Steve, really liked the arrowhead pendants, but he wanted one with a monkey (that’s a story for another time!). So the search was on for an arrowhead with a monkey on it.

Knowing that the chances of find one were very slim, I thought the best course of action was to take a generic arrowhead and have a jeweler fasten a monkey it. I remembered seeing a generic arrowhead that was similar to ours, so I bought it, and then found a pair of handmade silver monkeys from Peru that were shaped like the Nazca monkey.

So I bought them and took them to a jeweler, and even though the picture doesn’t do it justice, the result was fabulous!

I sent it to Steve, and he loved it!

Steve made the comment that he was now part of our Tribe. And I got thinking about it, and he was right. We had inadvertently started our own little tribe. I mused about this a while when suddenly I was struck with the realization that the first names of everyone in the Tribe had the same first names as me and my brothers! Obviously, we were meant to know each other!

So now came the hard part: coming up with a name for the Tribe. All kinds of crazy things came to mind, but nothing that rolled off the tongue well or evoked a profound image of what we were trying to represent. I asked my guides in meditation, and the only word that was given to me was “gift.” So all kinds of “gift” names came to mind. However, in the Native American culture, the number four brings with it the symbolism of the Medicine Wheel and the Four Directions which are sometimes referred to as the Four Winds. The Eagle represents the East; the Bear represents the West; although the Buffalo and Hummingbird typically represent the North, I figure the Wolf had to be North because that monkey is definitely South American!

After many days of pondering potential names, I was on an outing with my friends Tom and Lizzy, and Lizzy had me play a synchronicity game: walk into a library, pull a random book off the shelf, open it to a random page, and read a random sentence, and see if the sentence is relevant to something happening in my life right now. The book I pulled was called “The Four Winds.” The passage I read meant nothing to me; it was the title of the book itself that held relevance.

And that’s how we became the Tribe of the Four Winds.

Directional Synchronicity: Twitter Post

I promised I would blog all synchronicities, no matter how small.

For those of you familiar with Twitter, you know that the messages that others post are fleeting. I had just decided that I couldn't hold it any longer and had to go upstairs to the bathroom. I was flipping through to close the tabs on my computer and I came across this tweet:

writethewords Lydia

Are you ever too comfortable wherever you are to get up and take a leak?

I am going to chalk this up to a directional synchronicity, telling me it's time to sign off.

Mirror Synchronicity: Lottery Mistakes

On November 10th there was a lottery story about how a man did not ask for the powerball but got it anyways, which made him win a million dollars instead of $200,000. Here is a link to one of the stories:

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20111110/HURBLOG/111119912/1211/news01?Title=-1-million-prize-rooted-in-cashier-s-mistake&tc=ar

What amuses me is that in trying to find the article, I actually came across another article about a lottery mistake which happened in October. The person had asked for a MegaMillions but the clerk issued a PowerBall ticket instead. She paid for it and good thing she did - she won $25 million dollars.

http://news.yahoo.com/ga-lottery-woman-gets-25m-store-mistake-015834399.html

Both stories are each directional synchronicities (mistake=win) and together they make a mirror synchronicity. Wow. For the regular readers of my blog, I'm still seeing lottery synchronicities. Does that mean I should start playing again?

Directional Synchronicity: Right Time, Right Place

My friends Tom and Ross are from the metaphysical group I belong to. They wanted to go on an excursion and a bit of a ghost hunt to Granville, OH. The plan was to have dinner at the Buxton Inn, which touts itself as "America's most ghostly country inn." I cancelled the first trip we had planned because I was not feeling well, so we went the following week.

After dinner we were exploring the basement of the Granville Inn, which is across the street and also known to be haunted. We ran into D., an employee, who just happened to be drawn downstairs at the same time we were there. I was sitting across the room from him and I could see in my mind's eye a spirit attached to him. It felt loving and very fond of him and interested in him. I assumed it was one of the Inn's ghosts but when I told him, he said he had felt that his grandfather was with him. He was having some personal challenges and so it was a comfort to him for me to validate what he had already felt on his own. He expressed delight in meeting us and within minutes we all bonded and exchanged information and D is planning on coming to our next group gathering. When we left the Inn, we remarked at the timing of it all with my having cancelled the prior week and D's decision to walk downstairs just when we were there.

So now, you might be asking yourself if we saw or felt anything, and the answer is yes. I saw movement several times, and felt the energies. But unfortunately (like the first time I had experienced spirit activity when my aunt was dying) I was unsettled. Even though the spirits were benevolent, I really did not enjoy the experience. I will not be attending any other ghost hunts.

Mirror Synchronicity: Very Punny!

My Uncle Paul is known for his puns - you know - the jokes that make you groan. The other day I was on Twitter and I randomly found a Twitter poster (@omgthatspunny) who posts a incredible supply of puns. I saw one that made me think of my uncle because he has always been into computers. I emailed him a short note with the pun.

Talking to her about computer hardware I make my mother board.

Now here's the synchronicity. His response to my email:

The pun really fit the moment. I spent part of yesterday researching the mother board that I wanted for a computer that I am building. (This will make you board (;>) ) I decided on an Asus P8P67 Pro (Rev 3.1) with an Intel i7-2600K processor. Today Kemper House is having a memorial Service for my mom.

I love synchronicities with humor.

Psychic Reading: Scarves

Before I tell the story, I do need to say that I do not generally go to psychics anymore. Sometime last year, something clicked for me and I realized that I need to look internally rather than externally for answers. I am not against psychics, in fact I know there are some very good ones out there, but ultimately I believe the answers lie within.

That being said, I do enjoy keeping company with people who have a similar belief system. There is a group of paranormal believers that has monthly parties and some of the attendees offer their psychic services for free. I won't generally turn down a free psychic reading!

Last week at the party a psychic named Mazie, who is also a medium (talks to spirits), told me that my aunt came through and mentioned that my aunt and I both were desperately trying to connect but somehow weren't getting through to each other. If you are a longtime reader of my blog, or have seen my book, this is the aunt that I had the Shared Death Experience with last year.

The final part of the reading was that Mazie mentioned a connection to lots and lots of scarves. This meant absolutely nothing to me. I don't wear scarves and I don't particularly connect scarves with my aunt either. Still, I know that Mazie is a good reader so I knew there was something to what she told me.

So last night, my cousin calls me and I mentioned the reading to her. There was a stunned silence on the other end. She told me that her mom had lots of scarves. Not only that, but a couple of months ago when my cousin's grandmother died, she went through her mom's old scarf drawer and carefully picked out a scarf of her mom's to wear at the funeral. Then just this month, while planning a trip overseas, she decided to take several scarves with her to mix up her wardrobe. The whole time she was deciding what scarves to take, she said she was thinking of her mother.

So while scarves meant nothing to me, the symbolism of them associated with my aunt meant everything to my cousin!

On top of all that, now here is a mirror synchronicity. This reading was not 'meaningful' for me until I talked to my cousin, and she found the significance. In a blog post last year, I wrote about a psychic reading that my cousin had (related to my aunt) that was not meaningful until she talked to me and I talked to my dad. It seems that even from the other side, my aunt is encouraging us to talk to one another to put the puzzle pieces together.

Mirror Synchronicity: Koi (Japan Part II)

A little over a month ago, I wrote a post about my multiple synchronicities with Koi fish. I just had another Koi reference that surprised me. I was having dinner with my long lost friend JR who has some psychic abilities. She and I hadn't seen each other for over 6 months and so we had a lot of catching up to do.

Towards the end of dinner, I asked her to 'read' me just for fun. One of the things that she did was ask me if I had a fish tank and I said, "No, why?" She said, "Well I see fish." I asked what kind and without a beat, she said, "Koi." She had no idea that the Koi symbolism had come up in my life several times over the past year.

Directional Synchronicity: Lucky Penny

A couple of weeks ago I was in Las Vegas. For some reason I kept finding pennies on the floor. Perhaps they have so little value anymore that people don't bother to stoop to pick them up. Being slightly superstitious, I always stop to pick coins up, even if my hands are full.

On my last night in Vegas I had to switch hotels. The new hotel had a players card that offered 'free play' if you signed up and gave your email address. I was pretty much gambled out, but I decided it was worthwhile to at least play the $10 in free play that I had. I walked around the slot area looking for a machine that called to me. Finally, I came across a machine called 'Lucky Penny' which was a penny slot. It reminded me of the pennies that I had just found on the ground so I figured this was the one.

Sure enough, in less than 2 minutes, I won $62 on this penny slot. I guess those pennies were lucky!

Mirror Synchronicity: Paul

Another writing project that I have been working on for a long time is The Downside of Dream Jobs. It is a series of interviews with people who have dream jobs and asking for them to talk about the realistic parts of their jobs that the public might not have imagined. I had been working on the book for 5 years and had collected a lot of really cool interviews but could never get myself to finish it because I kept wanting to collect more interviews. Thanks to a friend's suggestion, I decided to release the individual interviews as ebook singles.

There is a synchronicity in here, I swear!

The first ebook is The Downside of Dream Jobs: Video Game Tester

The second ebook is The Downside of Dream Jobs: Sportscaster

The third ebook that I am finalizing right now is The Downside of Dream Jobs: Upset Recovery Flight Instructor.

So I noticed as I was working on them that the interviewee of my second book (Sportscaster) and the interviewee of the third one (Flight Instructor) were both named Paul.

Coincidence.

Alex, the interviewee of the first ebook (Video Game Tester), contacted me and asked me to change the name of one of his coworkers in the interview, because it might be embarrassing for that person. It doesn't change the value of the story, so I was fine with that. I asked him to pick the pseudonym because I did not want to inadvertently choose the name of another co-worker.

He wrote me back and asked for me to use the name "Paul"! So now the first three singles that I've released all have a "Paul" in them. Funny little synchro.

Directional Synchronicity: The Lottery!

Ok, I know what you're thinking so first let me just say that I fully acknowledge this might just be wishful thinking...but read the whole post first and then tell me if you think there might be a synchronicity somewhere.

It all started on September 24th when I found a used lottery ticket on the ground by my mailbox. When one finds a lottery ticket one needs to verify that it isn't a winner, right? I did check and discovered that no, it was not a winner. BUT the ticket reminded me that I had a coupon for a Buy $5 Lottery Ticket and get a $2 one free.

So I dig around in my mail pile to find the coupon and discover that it expires THAT DAY.

Of course, I go to buy a $5 ticket and get my free $2 lottery ticket.

The $2 one is not a winner, but the $5 ticket is. I win $5. I keep the winning $5 ticket in my purse for the next time I happen to go to the gas station.

The following day, I am watching Family Guy and the episode is entitled, "Lottery Fever" . I am surprised and excited to see another lottery reference so soon. I tell my husband about the lottery synchronicity and that perhaps this is a 'sign'. My husband says, "Forget the scratch offs - if we win the lottery, I want it to be the big one."

Before you scoff, I need to tell you that you will never win the lottery if you don't play. And maybe I'm wrong, but I'm not going to ignore a potential synchronicity that tells me to play the lottery. I don't normally play... but the last time I had a dream about the lottery I bought a ticket and won $75. Small wins, people, small wins.

So anyways, I don't know much about the lottery but I tell my husband to stop at the gas station so I can buy a ticket. I cash in my winning $5 scratch off and tell him I want the megamillions. Before I can ask any questions, the guy punches it in and gives me 5 single entries. BUT I notice that I didn't get the Megaplier number. I was disappointed but not so disappointed as to get another ticket. This is just for fun anyways.

So, the night of the drawing, I creep down to the computer after 11 to check my ticket. I am kicking myself for not getting the Megaplier. I don't understand the whole megaplier thing but it seems like you need it to really win big. I have a number here and a number there but I can't really tell if I won.

Today I stopped in to the gas station and asked the attendent to check the ticket. Sure enough, I won again - $2!!! (small wins, people, small wins). So what do I do with my $2? Well, I am going to ride the rush. I bought one ticket WITH the Megaplier this time. The drawing is tomorrow night. Maybe I will win.

If this ticket doesn't win, I'm done for now until I get another inkling of a sign. I will keep you posted.

BUT JUST FOR FUN... here's my promise. IF I win the FULL megamillions jackpot ($113 million), I will believe that it was your positive energy that helped and I will give $1,000 each (one thousand dollars!) to the first 20 people who comment on this post (one comment per person please - don't be greedy).

Mirror Synchronicity: My Sympathies

This morning a friend of mine sent me an article from The Globe and Mail about the Hallmark cards targeted towards people who had experienced job loss.

This afternoon, my grad school advisor emailed me and asked me if I would be interested in co-authoring a research study about the evolution of the language in sympathy cards.

He had not read the first article. Weird that both were sent to me via email.

On TV: A Gifted Man - Review

So, as you may remember from a previous post, I was looking forward to the pilot episode of A Gifted Man, a show about a surgeon who sees the spirit of his ex-wife. I have not read any other reviews about the show because I wanted to share my impressions first without the bias of others ideas.

I thought it was just okay. Alright, I admit I was a little disappointed. But to be fair, I will start with what I liked:

• I like the overall premise of the show (that a character sees spirits) because I was very disappointed to see the end of Medium and Ghost Whisperer.
• Margo Martindale is one of my favorite character actresses
• Jennifer Ehle looks like a young Meryl Streep and has the appropriate presence of an angel

Here is what I did not like:

• The Shaman character makes a comparison of the ghost to a "tumor."
• The main character's 'bad' attitude is over-acted and over the top. He is suddenly a kind and gentle person around his ex which is so much of a contrast so as to be unrealistic.
• The general plot seems contrived.
• The previous television shows about spirits have different spirits in every episode. I can't see where this show is going.
• There is too much of his medical practice closeups on inner organs.

So the grand conclusion for me is that I will watch another episode with hopes that they figure it out, but I do not see this show lasting very long. I welcome commentary from anyone who has seen the show to add what they liked/did not like.

Mirror Synchronicity: Japan

So last night at a party I had a past-life reading for the first time. I found it to be... interesting. I have been curious about my 'past lives' for as long as I remember but never had a reading before. This was a freebie, so it was quick. She told me that in the 1500s I had been a teenage boy training to be a Samurai in Japan. There were a lot more details to the reading, primarily around positive traits and attributes carried forward into this lifetime such as integrity, loyalty and pride.

I had never met the psychic before and I found the story to be intriguing. She could not know that I lived in Japan as an infant and actually spoke Japanese as my first language (my nanny spoke little English). I have always lamented that I had the potential to be fluent in Japanese had my parents pursued my language education. Additionally, I am strongly interested in Buddhist and Zen cultures.

SO, here's where it gets kind of weird for me. A year ago I had magical sort of dream about flying koi fish when I was in Las Vegas at a casino. The following day, I saw a slot machine with a Koi on it, played it, and won like $80 and then continued to win for an hour on the slots that I was draw to. [Regrettably, I did not blog that directional synchronicity when I returned from my trip].

So LAST night I had a dream that involved a classroom environment and I remembered distinctly that I needed to go to room 226. Because I woke up with that number in my head I was curious about the symbolism. I typed +226 number symbolism into Google and the first hit that comes up is this Wikipedia story about Koi fish which are from Japan. Apparently the oldest Koi lived to the age of 226. What is strange to me is that there is no way I would have consciously made the connection with that number to Koi or to Japan.

So last night's dream tied both back to the dream last year about the Koi and also to my past life reading. Does it mean anything? Maybe, maybe not, but it was still pretty trippy!

Directional Synchronicity: Kismet meeting #2 of 2

Yesterday I drove to Cleveland for the day to spend time with my uncle who had lost his wife (my aunt) last year and just recently lost his mom. We had a wonderful day visiting, but given that Cleveland is a two hour drive, I was tired on the drive home. About half an hour before I would have arrived home, I received multiple pleas from the volunteer coordinator at the hospice. There was a patient who was actively dying and alone. His family lived out of town and the facility did not have the staff to stay with him. They were looking for eleventh hour volunteers. Was anyone available?

I thought about it. I was exhausted. It was 8:00 at night and I had not yet eaten dinner. I had been away from home all day, and had things I had planned to do.

Yet I felt compelled to go volunteer. Why? I kept asking myself... why are you doing this to yourself? Are you trying to be a martyr? I really wasn't, but I just knew that I should go.

Funny enough, it wasn't for the patient - he was fine. There was an on-call nurse, Mary, who had been sitting with him until they could round up the volunteers. I had never met her before, but like my other post that I mentioned, there are some people who you instantly click with. We started talking about the patient, which transitioned to how I knew everyone at the hospice (I used to work there) which transitioned to metaphysical stuff. Amazingly, Mary and I have a LOT in common. She started to talk about synchronicities. I laughed. I said, "You don't know who you're talking to! I have been writing about synchros for seven years!" We bonded at the bedside of a dying patient. After she left, I thanked the patient. I told him he was a great party host for introducing us. I stayed with him for hours and we just sat and held hands.

Later when I did the shift change, someone who worked at the facility told me a bit more about the patient in life. He definitely was the life of the party and would've been the type to have introduced Mary and I. Funny. I hope that Mary and I become friends.

Directional Synchronicity: Kismet meeting #1 of 2

It is amazing to me how people can give off strong energies in such a short time period of knowing them. I had an experience yesterday where I met two kinds of people at the same time (strangely enough, they were talking to each other). One I could not get away from fast enough, and one with whom I felt an instant connection.

For the first time in a year and a half, I went back to the metaphysical store that I had visited during the time my aunt was dying last year. I wrote about this particular store in my book because I had a series of synchronicities there. I wanted to go back and visit again, perhaps buy some things and tell them that I wrote about them in the book I just published.

Long story short, the owner was not really interested in my story. I am high energy sometimes and perhaps he was annoyed by my babble. He did mention that he was on the verge of selling the store, so perhaps he had already checked out. To make matters worse, when we determined it was his wife who had been working last year, I said something stupid.

"She was kind of cranky."

Ooops. Blank stare from him. Then a bit of a clenched jaw.

Oh no I insulted his wife. I really didn't mean to insult her, it was just an observation. Actually, it was an understatement. She was not just cranky, she was disinterested... and not what you might typically assume that the store owner of a metaphysical store would be like.

So I had put my foot in my mouth. I tried to back out. I apologized profusely, but he was not letting me off the hook. Clenched jaw, fake smile. Wow. I am so sorry. I am sooooooooooooo sorry. Nothing. No concession that perhaps she might have been that way at that time. I was very uncomfortable and he just let me squirm. We left quickly.

The woman who had been standing next to him was the owner of another store. She had gone to visit him to make an offer for his store but he was already in negotiations. This woman, Carol, owns a store called Crystal Era in Elyria. She was so pleasant and light and she came up to me in the parking lot and said, "Don't worry - they're both unfriendly. You did not say anything bad."

We then ended up talking for fifteen minutes about metaphysical things, after death communication and of course synchronicities. This woman had the most unbelievable positive rainbow lighthearted energy about her. She was someone who I would want to sit next to on a bus, someone I would want to share tea with, someone I would want to be friends with. She said she had a lot of synchronicity stories. I asked her to email me so I could share them with you. I hope she does.

Navigating Without a Compass

My new neighbors Michelle and Dan are very much like my husband and I in one respect.  She and I believe in spirit communication, and the men do not.  In an extended coversation after I witnessed an orb, we expressed frustration with their inability to believe in what we know to be true.  Because I had just seen an orb, I wanted to pull out my camera and see if I could capture anything on film.  My husband touched my arm and said, "please don't."  It occurred to me then that not only did he not believe in signs and messages from the other side, but that he really wasn't interested in becoming a believer either. 

We (them women) were feeling sorry for them (our men), but then I realized that perhaps they have a different life lesson.  Perhaps it is their lesson in this lifetime to go without signs or proof.  Perhaps they are meant to navigate without a compass.  And then it struck me...perhaps they are more evolved souls than we are?  It has been said that God gives us the tools that we need to make our way in this world.  Maybe my search for signs has stemmed from a lack of confidence.  Maybe my search has been saying, "God, I don't feel strong enough to handle this world on my own, I need to know that you're there to hold my hand."   In thinking about the compass metaphor, I started researching orienteering.  Sure enough, it takes skill to read a map and a compass.  But the truely advanced orienteers find their way without either.  The Bushwalker's Guide to the Galaxy suggests that "someone who can navigate without them [Map and Compass] is less likely to feel stranded or lost."  Wow.  So, I guess this means that less reliance on "signs" and more reliance on inner self will better help us find our way.

Besides, it does not surprise me that these men don't want to stop and ask for directions.

As an aside, I found a really interesting article on another site about intention and our inner ability to navigate here.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Messages from Heaven!

Well, if you have come across this blog by happenstance or purposefully, you probably have an interest in after death communication and may have even experienced it yourself.  It was just brought to my attention that the Chicken Soup series has a call for essays about the topic:

Messages from Heaven
When our loved ones leave this world, our connection with them does not end. Death takes away their physical presence, but not their spirit, and we often sense them after they have gone. Sometimes we see or hear from them after they've passed, giving us signs and messages from beyond. We want to hear from you if you have experienced the other side or received a sign or signal from a loved one who has passed. The deadline date for story and poem submissions is October 3, 2011

I find this very exciting because it means that the topic of spirit communication is going more mainstream!  Another friend recently sent me some statistics about afterdeath communication which stated that 1/3 of the people surveyed had experienced some kind of communication in their lifetime.  I personally feel this number is low, as I know a few people who have admitted to me that they have experienced "something" but they still don't believe in the afterlife.  They are the type who might say "no" on a survey, just because they don't understand what happened. 

The orb in the corner

This past weekend I was visiting with my neighbors in their outdoor porch area.  My neighbor was telling me about the loss of her sister nearly twenty years ago.  She was describing to me how she could feel her sister's presence, but then she would end with, "Am I crazy?"  As she was talking, I noticed a big ball in the corner of the porch.  I was trying to pay attention to her but the ball kept growing and growing and it started to light up.  Although I see orbs frequently now, I am still not used to seeing them so I am always perplexed.  I felt bad because my neighbor was sitting in a position where I had to turn my head away from her to look in the corner but I was just so drawn to it.  Then as soon as I acknowledged it, it flared and disappeared.  It seems like every time I see an orb, it bounces around or does something to get my attention but once I acknowledge it, it is gone.  Anyone else experience this?  Why won't they stay when I admit that I see them?

Mirror Synchronicity: Immortality

Perhaps it was because I sat bedside this week with a dying patient who was 98 years old. It seemed that the concept of living to 100 and immortality kept throwing itself in front of me.

Firstly there was this article about an upcoming book about immortality:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/opinion/sunday/torchwood-gives-glimpse-of-eternal-life.html

Then, without looking for it, suddenly this WSJ article about living to 100 and beyond pops up in my newsfeed:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904875404576528841080315246.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Then yesterday I was at the movies and the trailer before Cowboys and Aliens was for a movie called In Time where the rich can buy more time. http://www.intimemovie.com/

I am hoping these are all just mirror synchronicities and not directional synchronicities telling me that I need to be saving more for retirement!

Mirror Synchronicity: Resurrection

So, I do not want to read too much into this, but I had to post that twice in 24 hours, I was spontaneously told a story about a person who was declared dead, and then not.

The first story came from a relative who told me that her mother in law had been on hospice and was declared dead by the hospice nurse. The family all was called, but then she started breathing again a short while later. She lived for another two hours and died again.

The second story came from a hospice nurse while I was sitting bedside for a different hospice patient. We were talking about shared death experiences and she told me about a previous patient who had died but then came back to life when the minister walked in the room and everyone in the room saw a golden light.

I do not claim that any of these synchronicities have meaning, and I certainly hope I am not the one who is going to have a near death experience, but I thought it was weird that two different people told me these stories within such a short time frame.

On TV: A Gifted Man

Occasionally, I will veer off from my synchronicity posts if something else catches my eye. Lately I have been seeing previews for a Fall CBS Show, A Gifted Man. I could not help but notice the previews when they used the phrase, "Follow the Signs." Of course, since my blog has the same name, it certainly caught my attention! The initial preview clip looks promising. I do love the idea that it is a skeptic who gets these abilities to communicate with the other side, although there is the expected stereotypical exploration of mental disorders, etc. It will be interesting to see how this one turns out. I needed something to fill the gap that Medium and Ghost Whisperer left behind. I will be watching! If you check out the clip, let me know what you think.

Here is the description of the show from the CBS website:

A GIFTED MAN is a drama about a brilliant, charismatic surgeon whose life changes forever when his deceased ex-wife begins teaching him the meaning of life from the "hereafter." Michael Holt (Patrick Wilson) is an exceptional doctor who lives a materialistic life of luxury thanks to his work-obsessed career and powerful and wealthy patients; however, Michael's ordered world is rocked when his ex-wife, Anna (Jennifer Ehle), an idealistic free-clinic doctor and the love of his life, mysteriously appears to him. Michael's off-beat sister, Christina (Julie Benz), a single mom to her teenaged son, Milo (Liam Aiken), is thrilled that Anna's back in her brother's life, even as an "illusion," because Michael was always a better person with her. Curious about Michael's sudden change in behavior is his efficient assistant, Rita (Margo Martindale). When Anna asks Michael to go to her clinic to help keep it running, he meets Autumn (Afton Williamson), a volunteer carrying on Anna's work with the underprivileged. Touched by those in need and accepting of Anna's compassionate "presence," Michael's attitude toward serving the rich and poor is turned upside down, and he begins to see that there's room in his life for everyone. Academy Award nominee Susannah Grant ("Erin Brockovich"), Academy Award winner Jonathan Demme ("The Silence of the Lambs"), Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly and Neal Baer ("ER") are executive producers for CBS Television Studios.

Directional Synchronicity: Cows on the Run

So I was surprised that no one in the media has made this connection, but last Thursday August 11, there was an article about a Bull that escaped from a slaughterhouse and went running down Freedom street in Queens. There are quite a few articles about it, here is one with video.

[Call out on street name being a mirror synchronicity too!]

Then today NPR had an article about a cow named Yvonne who escaped from her farm in Germany right before she was due to go the slaughterhouse. Apparently all last week, a German tabloid called Bild has been running articles about this cow that has been on the lam for three months.

Both stories have brought animal issues to the forefront of the news again. In the case of the Queens cow, activists wanted to save it but they were too late. In Germany, there is a fear that once Yvonne is found she will be shot.

Perhaps both of these bovines are telling us that we need to be eating less meat? (For the record, I am having hamburgers for dinner tonight. I would love to be a vegetarian but I do not like vegetables. It poses a problem.)

Mirror Synchronicity: Somewhere In Between

Just recently I finished writing my first ebook about my Shared Death Experience with my aunt. She died last year and because the majority of the book is about her, I thought it would be a nice homage to her to publish the book on her birthday, August 6th. Well, due to delays with the graphic design, I missed the date. Amazon allows you to arbitrarily set a publication date for ebooks and I had intended on putting the date in anyways when I uploaded it, but I was so excited to get it uploaded that I forgot. I figured that at least it would be published on the anniversary of my mom's death on August 8.

Well, the upload processed sooner than I expected, and I ended 'publishing' on August 7th. I was disappointed that I had missed the second date until I realized that the 7th was the date between two significant dates in my life- August 6th and August 8th, and quite fitting for a book titled, "Somewhere In Between"

If you would like to read my ebook for the quite reasonable price of $0.99 you can find it on Amazon.

I have a strong feeling that this is just the beginning of the synchronicities for this book.

Directional Synchronicity: Do it yourself

Lately I have been working towards publishing my first ebook based upon my Shared Death Experience with my aunt last year. I have done some design work and I was originally going to design the cover myself. However, when I kept coming up with drafts and asking people for their opinion, my head was filled with too much 'advice.' Discouraged, I decided that I wasn't a designer and gave up and contacted a professional designer. He said he could do it and then while I was waiting for his design, I had second thoughts. I had told him I wanted a piece of chocolate cake on the cover but then I had changed my mind. I also realized that I probably won't make a lot of money from publishing the book and it would be quite a while before I would even break even.

Well, my desired deadline came and went and despite multiple emails, the "professional" designer was not responding. I realized then that I was back where I started. I had a book but no cover. Yet, I felt that the universe was telling me that I was supposed to it myself, and so I did. I actually am happy with the results. Now, you might not see this as a synchronicity, but I have learned that sometimes when things do not work out the way I planned, they actually turn out better.

I heard a joke the other day, "If you want to see God laugh, tell him your plans."

Oh, and if you're interested in reading the book, it's available on Amazon for $0.99. What a steal!

Afterlife Communication: The Macy's Receipt

This story was posted in a discussion group I belong to and I asked the storyteller, Mel, if I could retell his story. I consider this to be an example of afterlife communication.

I was 19 years old, living in the basement apartment of my parents home one semester while I commuted to college. I awaken one morning and go to my desk where I see a very old, yellowed sales receipt from Macy's Herald Square in NYC. It strikes me as odd, given it wasn't there the night before. I look further and see the date on the receipt is 9.9.55, 15 years earlier.

After a moment's reflection a chill comes over me. On 9.9.55 my parents received a phone call very early in the am alerting them that my grandmother had dies suddenly that night, at the age of 62.

If the receipt had not been as aged as it was I might have written this off as a peculiar coincidence. But it was clearly 15 years old. On that morning, a Sunday morning no one went shopping to Macy's. Firstly, we were in shock and my mother was traumatized. Furthermore, this was a Sunday and in those years department stores weren't open on Sundays.

Mirror Synchronicity: The number 42

Years ago when I filled out a subscription form for Rolling Stone magazine, I scribbled my first name, Liz. Imagine my surprise when I received my first subscription in the mail addressed to '42 miles' . (Miles is my last name.) I didn't bother to correct it because it always amused me. Yesterday I was thinking about that 42 and contemplating whether I would incorporate the number into the logo for my company. It would be my little secret.

Later when I was in my car, my odometer was set on 'trip' and I switched it over to the mileage. The mileage surprised me because it was 42, 142 and I was going 42 miles an hour. Perhaps that was a directional synchronicity... Regardless, it made me smile.

Directional Synchronicity: Distracted Driving

I was talking on the phone to a friend while driving. Completely engaged in my conversation I was stumped when I arrived home and found that my garage door opener was not working. I tried several times and then realized that I had driven to my old house that I had moved out of two months ago. We still own the house, and I still have a garage door opener for that house that works, but I was attempting to use the garage door opener to the new house on the old one.

I continued to talk on the phone as I backed out of the driveway and as I was passing the front of the house, my phone completely shut off mid-conversation. I assumed that my battery had died, but when I turned it back on, I still had 50% power and a strong connection. I could only assume then that the universe wanted me to get off the phone. I asked myself, "What am I supposed to pay attention to?" and I looked up at the house and saw that there was a newspaper by the mailbox and a phone book on the front porch. Both items I would not want to be sitting in front of my house. I also think that the disconnection was a stronger message from the universe to get off the phone and pay attention to my driving.

Synchronicity in the news: Article about Carl Jung

Here is an interesting article just published in the Guardian about Carl Jung.

Carl Jung, part 6: Synchronicity
With physicist Wolfgang Pauli, Jung explored the link between the disparate realities of matter and mind

The literary agent and author Diane Athill describes the genesis of one of her short stories. It occurred about nine one morning, when she was walking her dog. Crossing the road, a car approached and slowed down. She presumed someone needed directions. A man leaned out and brazenly asked her whether she would like to join him for coffee.

[click on the link above to read the rest of the article]

Mirror Synchronicity: Breakfast wish

I was sitting on a plane during a stopover flipping through a magazine and chatting with the flight attendent. I came across an ad for some new kind of Fig Newton crispy thing and I remarked to her that it looked good and asked if she had tried them. A little embarrassed that I was making small talk about food ads, I explained that I hadnt eaten breakfast. Then an hour later when they were walking down the aisles passing out the snacks, the flight attendent said, "here is your breakfast" as a joke as she put the snack down. She did not make the connection that she put in front of me the very item I was admiring from the magazine!

Directional Synchronicity: Special Day

This happened at the beginning of this month so I am little delayed in posting. Today I presented a personal story about my Shared Death experience from last year (which i blogged about when it happened) at the Association for Death Education conference in Miami. Because the story was about my aunt who died I needed to have pictures of her to illustrate the presentation. i sent my uncle an email and asked him for the pictures and he said he would look for them but it might take a while before he could get to it as he was preparing for an international trip. Well, a week went by and he hadnt sent them and I was anxious to get everything together so I emailed him and asked if i could drive up to his house (2 hours away) and look through them myself. He said that was fine and gave me several dates to chose from.

The day I chose was a monday because I thought the sooner the better. He had the stacks of albums out waiting when I got there and we had a great time looking through the pictures and reminiscing. Several hours into it he said, "do you realize today would have been our 52nd wedding anniversary?". I really hadn't known that. He said that my being there was helpful so he didnt have to be alone with his thoughts of loss. Was it coincidence? Synchronicity? Or was I guided? I'd like to think my aunt had nudged me to contact him and pick that date.

Directional Synchronicity: Dear Diary

On Thursday of this week I drove up to Cleveland to visit my uncle and attend the Cleveland area Alzheimer's Association fundraising dinner. My uncle said that he might be in the shower when I arrived so he left the door unlocked and told me to let myself in. I walked over to the wall of books (9 bookcases 12 feet high) and looked at exactly two books. Inside the second book I picked up, I found a 'Dear Diary' letter written by my late aunt in 1969 regarding a significant conversation she had with my uncle about whether they would try for a fourth child. My aunt died a year ago this week and we were attending the dinner in her honor, so I was uncertain whether to tell my uncle about the letter. I didn't want to upset him. I put it back in the book and left it on the shelf.

After the dinner we were sitting at the dining room table and he started reminiscing, so I decided to tell my uncle what I had found. I was afraid that if I never told him, he might never find it with the thousands of books he owns. He was fascinated by the letter and it revealed to him private thoughts he never knew that my aunt had. He enjoyed contemplating the mystery of it all. If you read my blog last year at this time, you will remember that I had a very special connection with my aunt. I believe that she directed me to that book and that letter.

Directional Synchronicity: I am a writer

Recently I quit my job as a hospice social worker. I had only worked for the company for 3 months, but it was long enough to know that it was not the right place for me. I still love hospice and will definitely continue as a volunteer if not a social worker again somewhere else.

Over the past few months, I have felt drawn back to writing. I have a MA in Journalism and Communication because I love writing, but I never really pursued writing as a way to make a living. Writing is not something that I necessarily want to do, but I seem to NEED to write.

I had lunch with my friend Kristi and told her that I felt I am really meant to be a writer. A week later, she had lunch with a friend of a friend who is an entrepreneur. He said to her, "I really need a writer. Do you know of anyone?" She gave him my name, he called me and when we met, we realized it was a good fit. So, I am now "officially" a paid writer.

We all have marveled at the synchronicity of it all.

Synchronicity in the news: Lady Gaga on Alexander McQueen for Bazaar US

In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, Lady Gaga stated that she felt that she channeled Alexander McQueen (Fashion designer who had committed suicide) when she wrote the song, "Born this Way." This is a HIT song that she wrote and she is not even taking credit for it. A lot of news articles are making fun of her saying that she received creative inspiration from beyond. But how else do you explain the synchronicity that her record label decided to release the song on the anniversary of his death?! I believe you Gaga!

Here's the article:

Lady Gaga on Alexander McQueen for Bazaar US

Mirror Synchronicity: Lost a twin

I had come across an article in the Los Angeles Times about a California man's quest for the truth about the accident that killed his twin when they were eight. The accident happened in 1959 and fifty years later he was still trying to make sense of his loss. I was so move by the article that I posted liks to it on several social media sites.

The next day i went to see The Adjustment Bureau. I was fascinated by the story and wanted to learn more about how it was conceived. I noted that the story was based upon a short story by Philip K. Dick, a mid-century science fiction writer. curious about the author's background, i found his biography, which indicated that the author never emotionally recovered from the childhood loss of his twin.

One lost twin story is tragic, two lost twin stories is a synchronicity!

Mirror Synchronicity: A musical answer

This morning I decided I didn't like the song I was waking up to so I went to set up the alarm to play a different song. I had the CD If I were a Carpenter in the player and I was fast forwarding just the beginning parts of every song to find one that wouldn't be too jarring in the a.m. When I got to the song Yesterday Once More, I stopped fast forwarding and leaned back to listen to the song. As I was sitting there I started to think of a major decision I was trying to make about whether to to go back to school. I asked the universe for a sign to tell me which direction I should go. Nothing happened...immediately... but then a few seconds later, the next song on the CD came on and the lyrics caught me by surprise:

In your mind you have capacities you know
To telepath messages through the vast unknown
Please close your eyes and concentrate
With every thought you think...

It was the song "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft" a song I don't think I had ever listened to before. This time I took heed... while the song is talking about speaking with aliens, I did have to laugh at how the lyrics reflected my thoughts:

Oh won't you give us a sign
Give us a sign that we've reached you

After-Death Communication - scholarly view

I love that the scholars are also looking at synchronicities and signs from the other side. Here is a video interview with a book author who had done research on the topic. She gives many examples of synchronicities.

Open to Hope Foundation > Dr. Annette Childs and Dr. Heidi: After-Death Communication

Mirror Synchronicity: "Direct" mail message

Today my friend Chris posted on Facebook that he was really irritated that Facebook ads kept popping up to tell him to "suggest friends" for a friend of his who had actually died last summer. I posted a sympathetic response and lamented that although my mom died 7 years ago, every now and then I will get a random catalog in the mail that is addressed to her. A couple hours later I checked my mail and Lo and Behold there was an Eddie Bauer catalog with her name on it. Normally I am pretty irritated by this because I have complained every time I get one and they still don't have a clue. Today, though, I smiled. I felt it was a nod from the universe and a wink from my mom.

Afterlife Communication: Hot enough for you?

My friend "Gary" died this week. As I mentioned in other posts, he had always said that he would continue to stay in touch. The night he died my friend K was sitting in front of her fireplace when her furnace went on. The furnace, while only set at 74 went all the way up to 79, which was strange for her since it should've been able to read the heat from the fireplace. As K sat there sweating she laughed because she knew it was Gary's way of saying hello. In the months before he died they had a running joke about the temperature of his house. He always tried to get her to take her coat off and she said she was always cold. When the heat wouldn't go off, she knew it was him! After she acknowledged him, the furnace went off.

Gary always had a sense of humor...we anticipate many more crazy messages to follow.

Afterlife Communication: Pocket call without the pocket

My friend "Gary" who died this week had always said that he would continue the contact with his friends after he died. On my way home from the facility where he died I recevied a call from his nurse, D., who had also been very close to him. When I picked up the phone, I didn't hear her and so I yelled into the phone. She said she hadn't called me but also that her phone was next to her and not even in her pocket. We laughed about it and figured that it was Gary's way of keeping us talking.

Directional Synchronicity: The moment he died

Back in 2005 when I first started this blog I commented on two personal experiences with the moment of death that led me to believe that there is meaning in the timing of when someone dies. From my personal and professional hospice experiences, I've learned that the person who dies sometimes waits for people to leave, and sometimes waits for people to come. What can be frustrating for surviving family members, there is no way to know which way it is supposed to be until afterwards. Families can drive themselves nuts trying to 'create' the right conditions.

This week that idea of timing was confirmed again.

I had been sitting bedside for my friend "Gary" at an inpatient hospice for 4 days. I didn't do a vigil, but I just stayed long enough each day for him to know that I cared and that he wasn't facing his transition alone. On Thursday I noted he was starting to change and that it probably wouldn't be long. He was really close to his nurse and she was already on her way. He wanted to take a shower so I decided to go and get something out of the vending machine. I came back to the room but the nurse and the aide said they were still helping him and it would be just a few more minutes. I had heard it was a nice day outside and so I went out to the front of the facility to sit down and enjoy the weather. I was there less than 5 minutes when the nurse came rushing out in a panic to tell me that he had passed. She told me it was peaceful and that both she and the aide were with him. She felt so bad that I wasn't there at the time and I reassured her that I understood and that I wasn't supposed to be there.

Well, less than 5 minutes later, a friend, K, came walking up from the parking lot and I had to tell her that he had passed. She missed him by 5 minutes. She felt bad that she missed him and I reassured her that it was intentional on his part.

His nurse, D. had been on her way from another patient's house when she had a strong message in her head that she needed to pick up small memento of his from his house for him. Then she got stuck in traffic. So when SHE found out she also missed being there for him, she was really sad. I told her about timing and how he waited until I was gone and died before K got there. In hindsight, we figured out that the message to get the memento came right around his time of death.

The synchronicities of all three of us 'missing' the event are too much to chalk up to coincidence.

Mirror Synchronicity: The travel metaphor

Recently I had the privilege of sitting bedside with a friend "Gary" during the last week of his life. He had cancer and the disease had progressed enough to require care in an inpatient hospice unit. He slept often and his dreams were very active. He would talk and make hand gestures while he was sleeping. Hospice professionals refer to his condition as 'terminal restlessness'. I had always heard that people at the end of life start to experience and express the situation as a travel metaphor and Gary was no exception. One time when he was sleeping he said 4 times, "Get up, get up, get up, get up." His hand gesture was so broad he woke himself up. He smiled and told me he was trying to get his motorcycle on the back of a truck. Another time he said he had a dream about a 102 foot boat. Yet another time he lifted his hand up and turned his wrist. That gesture, too, woke him up. He told me he was trying to start a car. I asked him him about the boat, motorcycle and car transportation metaphors and said, "are you going somewhere?" and he said, "you think?" and grinned. What would turn out to be the day before he died, he wanted to stay in his street clothes and refused to take off his shoes. He would ask, "when are we leaving?" He was so restless that he and I actually took a walk around the facility, wandering aimlessly. During that walk he told me about a scene from the movie Mission to Mars. He said, "I feel like Gary Sinese - about to get in the capsule."