The open heart and ADEC

Eight years ago, I started this blog as a way to explore evidence of the afterlife via synchroncities. My most recent losses at that time were my mother and great aunt who had just died within four months of each other. My heart had been ripped open. I hoped and prayed for some kind of "proof" that there was life beyond death. There was desperation in my search. I wanted to believe that they were just right there on the other side of the invisible curtain, and if I just listened hard enough, I would "hear" from them. Each synchroncity provided a wee bit of comfort, and the comfort expanded as more and more synchronicities happened.

I never expected to still be writing about synchroncities eight years later, but when I now look at the body of "evidence" of my own experiences, I am in awe. I am no longer searching for the "proof" of a connected universe, because I feel the connectedness every day.

I am now in my third year of membership in ADEC, the Association for Death Education and Counseling. My very first conference experience was overwhelmingly positive and I have been hooked ever since. Members of ADEC are all drawn to the field of death and dying from a profound personal death experience. Let's be honest here, kids generally don't aspire to be thanatologists when they grow up. We didn't choose the profession, it chose us.

One might think that gathering together with a massive room full of people who have profound loss experiences would be draining, like one big depressing funeral. After all, being around one grieving person is hard enough, why would you want to be around 600 people with sad stories? Wouldn't it be more fun to work on taxes? Or get a root canal! (poor dentists, this is always the comparison... but i have had a root canal and it is indeed quite awful ).

The truth is, being with ADEC people is unlike any other crowd experience I have ever had. Our losses have ripped our hearts wide open and left us exposed. Collectively, what this translates to is an invisible thread of connectedness that binds us to strangers. There is a sense of belonging, of knowing. You are still here and despite the pain you have endured; you survived. Me too. We were once alone, and now we know we are not ever alone.

Every time I come to an ADEC conference, the synchroncities go off like fireworks. I have over ten so far that have happened to me personally, and have heard countless others. First timers and veterans alike marvel at them. Almost all of the synchros are people related, and it is as if our guides and loved ones on the other side are arranging and rearranging us for serendipitious encounters.

The topic of after death communication comes up frequently at this conference. (that alone was proof for me that I was with the right crowd). The other night I had a delightful dinner with five other women and we shared our ADC experiences with each other. The question was asked as to why the "communication" takes so many forms. Why do "they" (our loved ones on the other side) have to send us a totem, a sign, a synchro? Why don't they just say hello? The answer to "why" is not ours to know. At least not now. But we do know with certainty that the messages are being sent. Those that have their radio on can receive. And I think that the receiver is inside the heart...only accessible to the hearts that are open.

Mirror Synchronicity: Postcards to Russia

I am a member of Postcrossing. If you have never heard of it, it's a website created in order for people to share postcards with people around the world. It is great fun for anyone who likes to send and receive mail.

To understand the awesomeness of this synchronicity, you first need to know some statistics.

• There are Postcrossing members from 202 different countries
• Over 10,353,036 postcards have been exchanged
• Approximately 1,200 postcards are entered every hour
• There are 294,749 members of Postcrossing

Today, I decided to send some postcards. How it works is that you have a profile set up. You click on 'send a postcard' and then you are given a random name and address for someone somewhere in the world. You send them a postcard. When they receive it, they type in a code, and then your name and address will show up for someone else to send you a postcard. You never know what country you will be sending your postcard to, and you do not know where you will receive a postcard from. For every postcard you send, you will receive one postcard.

I was in the mood to send postcards, so one by one, I would select 'send a postcard' and then see what popped up. Addresses popped up for Germany, Russia, Czech Republic, Poland, New York and Louisiana. When I got my second Russian address, I thought it looked familiar because it was hard to spell. Then I noticed some of the preferences were similar. Then I looked at the pictures. Then I actually compared addresses and realized I had received the addresses for a husband AND a wife. If you look at the statistics again, the odds are pretty incredible.

I did not comment on the postcards itself about the synchronicity and I will be interested to see if they notice. We don't typically put return addresses on the cards, but they might notice the handwriting and the odds of receiving postcards from someone with the same name.

Directional Synchronicity: Quit the Games

I am addicted to the Smurfs Village application on my IPAD. Yes, I know, it is probably targeted towards (ahem) a younger demographic, but it's fun. I am now on level 33, so you know I have been playing it a while. Today I was in my kitchen and I went to do my morning Smurfs maintenance. I needed to harvest my pumpkins and collect my XP. But the app would not open. It crashed. I would try again. It crashed. I literally tried it more than ten times. I really was not going to give up. It worked fine yesterday, and they hadn't changed anything with the program, so I was confused as to why it wasn't working.

Then it occurred to me. Perhaps it is the universe telling me that I should be cleaning my kitchen instead of playing Smurfs?

I was waiting for a microwave repairman, and it would be nice if the kitchen were in decent shape before he got there. BUT I still kept trying to get into the program. Finally I said, "Ok, I will clean the kitchen after I play the Smurfs. I promise." It was the very next attempt when the app didn't crash and I got in... perhaps it was the 15th attempt by then. I harvested, I collected my XP and then I closed it down and fulfilled my promise to clean the kitchen.

Some people might say I read too much into things. Maybe so. It made me laugh, though.

Synchronicity in the News: Lottery Winner

Ohhh, I love lottery synchronicities. This story is simple. Man is standing in line to buy lottery ticket. Another man cuts in line. Man standing in line does not complain. Line-cutter loses. Man who did not complain WINS 300 MILLION. Is it a true synchronicity? Kismet? Serendipity? Karma? Maybe all three. Whatever it is, it is awesome!

Read the news story here

Mirror Synchronicity: Search

Someone in my circles on Google+ shared this video about how to use Google Scholar. I use it every day so I thought I might learn something new. Imagine my surprise when one of the sample searches was a search I had done before, and the speaker mentioned Brenda Dervin, a former professor of mine!