So many times, we find ourselves trying to make sense of the senseless.
Whether something was beyond our control or happened because of our own making—all of us have experienced those unexpected twists and difficult turn of events in our lives.
We find ourselves constantly reflecting on why something happened or worked out the way it did.
We wonder how can we possibly carry on as we search for ways to collect the broken pieces of ourselves and put them back together?
How do we make something meaningful, something beautiful, out of so many crooked lines?
Maybe what once was a clear path forward, is now muddled with fear and confusion. Whether it was illness, loss or circumstance, a detour shoved us off the straight path and onto a crooked line.
These are the moments in our lives that bring us to our knees and force us to examine everything around us and the stories we tell ourselves.
My moment came when I was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer.
While it’s true our world can change in an instant, we often get so caught up in events that we forget we have the power to rewrite the story we tell ourselves.
We forget that our world can be an entirely different place than the world we lived in just a few moments ago, once our attitude toward it changes.
I didn’t realize it until recently, but the world I have been creating for myself through my thoughts and actions was full of fear, scarcity and survival. Unknowingly, I was living in this mental prison for most of my life until illness and cancer forced me to reexamine my reality.
I have repeatedly told myself I was broken, unfixable, and at times even unlovable.
I lived in fear when I was told some of my afflictions were “permanent” and incurable.
I believed part of me was dysfunctional and would remain that way for the rest of my life.
However, I once discovered these stories I was taking as absolute truths weren’t MY truth—things started to change. I began to realize how these attitudes and beliefs grew from the seeds of the stories that were planted by society, my caregivers, teachers, coaches and the many connections I have made throughout my life.
Throughout my journey with cancer, I have found the more I try to unpack my personal narrative, the more I am able to understand the parts of my life that need to change so I can heal.
I soon started to discover how our thoughts and the words we use, and the relationship we have with those words have the potential to directly affect our experiences. It’s as if our thoughts go out into the universe and take root as either seeds or weeds. They sprout in straight or crooked lines depending on our choices and intentions— both positive and negative.
From this quantum perspective, we often overlook the incredible fact that it is the sum of our connections that brought us to this very moment.
We forget that we are connected by our bodies, our DNA, the stories we tell ourselves, and the life experiences that have brought us to this point. And I’ve found the more we understand all these connections, the more we can start to shape them to serve our best interests and highest good.
One of the ways I am constantly reminded of this universal connection is through synchronicities.
The term synchronicity was first coined by the psychologist Carl Jung to describe a meaningful coincidence which seems to defy probability and “normal” explanations.
Jung believed synchronicities illuminate the mysterious connection between our personal psyches and the material world, based on the fact that everything exists as different forms of energy. Viewed in this way, synchronicity allows us to see the world with different eyes—one based on awe, curiosity and profound meaning.
When we learn to view things in this way, the world can speak to us in a completely new way. The rational, scientific facade of the world, although still present, comes alive with the vibrancy and presence of spirituality and divine connection. We can discover meaning in life and find those ‘golden threads’ that seem to weave through our lives revealing truths about ourselves and our individual journeys.
“Life is a symphony of synchronicities waking us up to the reality of who we really are.” Noah Lampert, Synchronicity Podcast
Maybe you’re reading this now because you recently had one of those life-changing moments or synchronicities yourself. A when something happens that makes you question the role of design in the universe and your own place within it.
Examples of synchronicities would be overhearing a random conversation between strangers that appears to answer your own inner questions; or how events seem to unfold in the perfect manner to lead to you to the right information at the right time from the right people that are necessary to progress on your healing journey.
Synchronicities can bring the perfect people to lead you to success, or bring you to situations where everything seems to falls into place to improve your life.
I believe synchronicities are divine guideposts urging us to continue on our current path by helping to remind us that everything is connected.
Our intuition seems to have a direct connection to God and the divine knowledge that steers the grand plan of the Universe. Through our intuition, we can be guided to stay on this divine path—one that is filled with incredible synchronicities along the way.
Since 2012, I have been experiencing numerous number synchronicities daily. Unknowingly catching the time 11:11, 1:11, 2:22, 4:44, 11:44, and seeing different repeating number patterns and meaningful names show up in the most unexpected places. Throughout my journey with cancer, these synchronicities only seemed to intensify as highlighted in my two-part series Faith, God and Synchronicity.
Over this past year in remission, I have continued to experience multiple synchronicities on my journey to healing.
Such as being fortunate to be diagnosed exactly when I was so that I could participate in cutting-edge cancer treatment that is showing unprecedented results. I was floored to find out this past year that if I was diagnosed sooner or months later, I may have missed my spot since my clinical trial was only open to 40 patients.
Or how after weeks of anticipation leading up to my latest scan, it seemed I had butterflies following me everywhere I went. Especially meaningful to me was the butterfly I saw while waiting in traffic on the way to the hospital for one of my recent scans at Northwestern’s Lurie Cancer Center.
