This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, since I truly live for those moments of synchronicity that surprise me and show me that the world is not always what it seems.

So you may be wondering, what exactly is synchronicity and why would I want to create it?

Well basically a synchronicity is a coincidence that is so bizarre, it doesn’t seem likely that it could happen merely by chance. It may be a huge experience that changes your life forever, or it may be a seemingly insignificant experience that could only mean something to you, based on what you are feeling and thinking in the moment. Such experiences can either drastically change your life or simply reinforce the connectedness of everything in the universe.

Here’s one of my personal examples:

I was standing in line at Starbucks, looking at Facebook on my cell phone, when I noticed my friend Barb posted that she wanted to go see a band called Massive Attack and was wondering if anyone was interested. I felt this pull to respond and tell her that I wanted to go, but I had no idea who this band Massive Attack was. I just thought it would be fun to go see a show. But I decided against it, since I didn’t know who the band was, and wasn’t even sure if I would like them.

About 15 minutes later, I decided to fold some laundry. I felt a pull to listen to a radio station I had created on Pandora even though I hadn’t done that in a long time. The station I created was based on the band Wolfsheim, and most of the songs sounded pretty much the same.

All of a sudden, one song came on that made me literally freeze and put down the clothes I was holding. It sounded different from the other songs that had been playing, and I realized that I knew this song.

Have you ever had the experience where you hear a song and you know that it has a special significance from your past, but you can’t quite remember what it meant or what you associate it with? Well, that’s how this felt to me.I had to know what song it was!

I went over to the computer to see who it was and my jaw dropped–it was Massive Attack!

I immediately called my friend Barb to tell her what happened, and that I wanted to go to the show with her. The entire week had been full of synchronicities–even other ones. It was amazing to me that they were still happening. I was feeling very much in the flow all day.

Later that night, I was driving to visit some friends and decided to listen to a CD that I hadn’t heard in a long time. It was a mix CD that an ex-boyfriend had made for me years ago that I hadn’t listened to that much (mostly because I liked the other one he made for me better).

I was driving along listening to the CD, thinking about all the strange experiences I had been having. At one point, I just looked out the window and realized that something very strange and out of the ordinary could happen to me even right now.

It was at that moment that the next song came on. I didn’t recognize it right away, but it wasn’t long before I realized it was the same song by Massive Attack!

I hadn’t even known what songs were on the CD! Sure, it’s possible that I subconsciously knew, but even that truth doesn’t take away from the strangeness of the day.

~

Okay so you’re probably thinking, well that’s great and all, but what does it mean exactly? What’s the point? Is something significant supposed to happen at this Massive Attack concert to change the course of my life forever?

I really didn’t think so…I intuitively grasped that that would be too simple somehow, and the message was probably much more subtle, but still profound.

The Meaning

I DID go to the Massive Attack show and had a great time with my friend Barb, but no, there was nothing otherwise special about the night. I didn’t run into anyone I knew, or meet anyone who would change my life, or even have any other synchronicity experiences. I just had a really good time!

So what could the purpose of all this be, if anything?

Well, I started listening to the CD a lot, and realized that I really loved a lot of the songs on it. There was something transformative about it to me now it felt like a compilation to serve as the soundtrack for the major transformation I was going through. At the time, I had just launched my Coaching With Christina web site and was looking for apartments to live in. I found that when I was feeling doubt or needed to get back in the mindset of flow, listening to the CD was soothing and could almost instantly shift my mindset. It also became a great backdrop for visualization.

Interestingly, the last time I’ve randomly heard the song since, was right after I finally moved into my new apartment. It was about a week or two after I moved in, and I was having dinner with a friend, enjoying the fact that I could linger in the city for hours if I wanted to, and not have to worry about the long drive back home. Home was now just a short walk away.

The restaurant had been playing Spanish guitar sounding music, and when the Massive Attack song came on, it was very noticeably out of place. I asked the bartender where the music was coming from, and he said they had Pandora radio on. While it is possible that Pandora radio just likes to play Massive Attack and mix it in with other music styles, I believe that random music systems like Pandora and Itunes are likely to respond to the environment because they are random.  It should also be noted that it is not a new, mainstream song that is likely to be played over and over again right now.

For me, this song coming on symbolized that the Universe was telling me I had done the right thing by moving to the city and choosing the apartment I had chosen.  It had become a symbol of the whole transformative experience, linking all the moments in between together.

Synchronicities are often not so impressive to outside observers who don’t have access to the full emotional experience. To anyone else, it may seem interesting, but just be a series of events that may or may not have a meaning.  But what defines a synchronicity, is that it is an experience that has emotional meaning for YOU, and that it ties into your inner emotional experience and outer context.

Sometimes you may be given a truly amazing tangible gift via a synchronicity, while other times it is just a reassurance that God, the Universe, or some other consciousness is interacting with you. Or maybe it’s just the law of attraction. Maybe I was attracting the song to me, because I was thinking about it. Either way, it’s a reminder that there is more at play in our reality than we can see.

So what if you want to have more experiences like this in your life? Is there anything you can do to cultivate them?

I’ve found that the answer is YES!

Obviously, synchronicity is not something that can be forced. It may even seem strange or counterintuitive that you could even do anything that could cause a synchronicity. But I definitely believe it’s possible. I started making a list of the common denominators that were true for me when synchronicities happened, and also did some reading up on the experiences of others interested in synchronicity. Basically it all comes down to having the right mindset.

I noticed these were my Top 4 Common Denominators:

1)  Inspirational readings/audio recordings/conversations

2)  Being in the moment

3)  Expecting something unusual and interesting to happen

4)  Spontaneity

Our minds have a tendency to spew out junky things like doubt, fear, and negativity unless they are consciously honed. I have more synchronicity experiences (and I’m happier), when I keep my mindset on track by reading motivational books, listening to motivational audio recordings, or working with a coach and supportive people in my life. I recently heard someone say that it’s not enough to make a decision–decisions made need to be managed every day. You could think of this piece as managing your mindset.

As far as being in the moment, not all my synchronicities necessarily happen while I feel completely in the moment, but enough of them do that I feel this is important. Some of them actually happen while I’m thinking, “Something amazing could happen right now in this moment,” or even a few hours later after I’ve thought that.  Even the ones that happened when I wasn’t feeling particularly in the flow, usually come after consecutive weeks or months of consciously honing my mindset.

I also find that the best surprises and synchronicities tend to happen for me, when I am anticipating something new and interesting coming into my life. So of course, this ties into the whole mindset of having an expectant attitude about what will happen.

Finally, spontaneity may be one of the most powerful factors in synchronicity. When I am stuck in routine, I feel very clenched and not a whole lot of interesting things happen. Sure, you can get a lot done with rigid discipline, but it’s not fun, and it doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for life’s surprises.

Two of my most powerful synchronicities came after making a conscious decision to let go of routine (after being stuck in routine for a period of time) and go more with intuition about how to spend my time and not necessarily have a set schedule. Sure, it’s messy and scary to let go of routine and go with your intuition about making choices, but that’s when really interesting things start happening.

For instance, if your goal is to complete a specific project, it’s tempting to feel like the best thing to do is work on it as much as possible until it’s done. And of course, it’s important to actually work on projects, because they don’t complete themselves by themselves. But consider the possibility that varying your schedule and making sure to have fun times with friends away from your specific goal could even synchronously lead you to a fast and easy way to attain it that you wouldn’t have found otherwise!

As a side note, synchronicity cannot be forced. I’ve heard it said that in meditation, one should not begin the practice hoping to achieve euphoric bliss. While that can certainly happen, the attachment to that outcome shouldn’t be the end goal. The same is true for synchronicity.  Practice the mindset for optimal well-being and welcome synchronicity indirectly into your life. You can never control what form it will take–you can only create the conditions for it to be very likely to happen if you adopt the best mindset for it. And when it does happen, it’s best not to overanalyze it or become upset if nothing else of interest happens.

I love hearing synchronicity stories and would love to hear yours if you have one. If you’ve had a synchronicity experience, leave a comment with your story below and the meaning that you derived from it.