"Eureka," I exclaimed as I typed the above title. We all hope one day to make up a word that will become part of the standard lexicon. In fact, we might even be a "hope-temist!" Aha, there is another word I made up. Not to be confused with a Hoptemist, which is an obscenely overpriced Scandinavian-designed child's toy. But I digress.
You might find a cheeky definition of Idiosynchronicity in the Urban Dictionary. Still, I submit an altogether relevant meaning that aligns with our regular course of discussion here every Tuesday morning. Let's start from a reasonable point; the Boothbay Harbor, Maine, New Age Boutique called Enchantments.
Now, I don't besmirch anyone their faith. Belief is belief, and I honor such as a deeply personal journey. I've been to the Western Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the great Buddhist Temples and Shinto Shrines of Kyoto, and even the worlds largest center for the religion of Spiritualism presided over by an old mentor in Lilydale, NY. (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/04/style/lily-dale-mediums-spiritualism.html) Even Enchantments holds palpable energy. In places like these, my senses are always on high alert. At Enchantments, I came across the national bestselling tome Robert Hopcke entitled "There are no Accidents: Synchronicity and the Stories of Our Lives." Nice! A book to sink my teeth into.
The great and eminent psychologist Carl Jung invented the word "Synchronicity" to describe circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack a causal connection. "Jung held that to ascribe meaning to certain a-causal coincidences can be a healthy, even necessary, function of the human mind—principally, by way of bringing important material of the unconscious mind to attention."
We've all experienced those odd connecting coincidences that defy explanation. For example, there is the story of the great theoretical German "modern" physicist Wolfgang Pauli.
It is well known that theoretical physicists cannot handle experimental equipment; it breaks whenever they touch it. Pauli was such a good theoretical physicist that something usually broke in the lab whenever he merely stepped across the threshold. A mysterious event that did not seem at first to be connected with Pauli's presence once occurred in Professor J. Franck's laboratory in Göttingen. Early one afternoon, without apparent cause, a complicated apparatus for the study of atomic phenomena collapsed. Franck wrote humorously about this to Pauli at his Zürich address and, after some delay, received an answer in an envelope with a Danish stamp. Pauli wrote that he had gone to visit Neils Bohr, and at the time of the mishap in Franck's laboratory, his train was stopped for a few minutes at the Göttingen railroad station. You may believe this anecdote or not, but there are many other observations concerning the reality of the Pauli Effect! Additionally, being concerned with modern physics, you science geeks will understand how concepts such as the Theory of Relativity require a bit of faith to comprehend.
OK, where are we going with this insanity, Kawski? Well, Carl Jung wished to measure synchronicity somehow. In other words, describe the phenomena of impossible coincidence mathematically. Pauli, too, was interested in this, using quantum physics to connect with the creator. You might have heard of the god particle discovered in 1964, also known as the Higgs Bosun.
I'm not sure I have a method to quantify or characterize these strange coincidences in our lives. Still, I believe there is a way to manifest what we want—in other words, making sense of seemingly coincidental occurrences.
What happens to us down the road is a direct result of what we think about today. What we persistently believe about today becomes an essential part of our subconscious. The things we dream about become reality with persistent thought, known by some as manifestation. This is a timeless reality of our lives. The lyric from the song goes, "I can tell your future, just look what's in your hand," metaphorically expresses the same sentiment.
Out thoughts throughout the day are your reality. As much as we can direct those thoughts consistently in a positive direction, more layers of positive thought become layered in our subconscious. When a coincidence occurs, delightful or not, consider how your thoughts over time might have contributed to this coincidence. And by all means, Persist! Persist in your endeavors. Persist in establishing full engagement in your life. Persist in mastering your psychology. Time is the great equalizer. Persistent positive thought cannot help but put you on a path that will manifest that positivity.
Here are a few quotes from the great Earl Nightengale which bring home this point.
"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use."
"Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal."
"A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before the change."
Ah. There it is. That last one is an apt description of Idiosynchronicity: The singularly unique unfolding of our lives, which seems happenstance but in truth is the manifestation of what we think about the most.
Be well, dear reader.
Photo Source: Wikipedia: Dial of the Clock Tower at the Loggia Square, Brescia, Province of Brescia, Region of Lombardy, Italy
