Apartment Hunting

I had comeback from Halifax, Nova Scotia to move home to Toronto. I had to find an affordable place to live. I needed an affordable apartment because I was unemployed and I would have to live alone. I was nervous about both and I was for the first time in my life having to consider basement dwelling. I found a semi affordable apartment in the NOW magazine. I called the woman and it was a basement apartment in Riverdale. She was very nice, it was across from a park and I made arrangements to go see it. I was just about to hang up and I told her I had a cat. She paused and explained she didn’t want any pets.

“Oh the pet might make a mess on the floor.”

“She’s a cat, she’s litter trained.”

“Oh no. I’m sorry.”

I pleaded with her, if she would only meet me; she almost reconsidered but turned me down. I then saw another apartment advertised below this one. It sounded too good to be true and I thought I shouldn’t even call because it would probably be gone, but I did the woman on the other end was very friendly, she gave me the address explained the bathroom was shared and cats were not a problem. She did tell me the bathroom was shared which did give me pause but I took her address any way. We made arrangements to meet a few days later. That afternoon I was meeting my boyfriend in a neighbourhood where there was another potential apartment to see.  I didn’t like it. We were only a few blocks from the apartment with the shared bathroom, so we decided to walk by it to check it out. It was a lovely old house and I felt quite positive about meeting her the next day. After we walked by he paused briefly and looked down. He said in a dry tone, “A Mennonite woman lives in that house. Mary, yes I had dinner with her, I was at a dinner party at that house. Elizabeth lived in the basement. That was the first house I moved to when I came to Toronto.”

Gavin was from Winnipeg and was 11 years older than me. This was not the first time our lives had crossed paths in an unusual way.

The following day I met Mary. The apartment was beautiful I loved it. I told her about Gavin and the coincidence and she seemed very pleased about the connection. She also admired the coat I was wearing. She took an afternoon to think it over and decided the coincidence was too delicious to overlook. I took the apartment and it was probably the best place I ever lived. I blossomed in the years I lived there and found the neighbourhood to be home in two other dwellings and I would form other very significant relationships in and around the neighbourhood that would contribute to my further happiness long after Gavin left my world. I would meet Vincent four years later. I wonder would we have met if that woman in the other apartment agreed to meet me.

Melanie - Toronto, Canada

Looking for Janice

In 1978 I arrived at the tiny village of Toyabunka on Lake Batur in Bali. The only way to get to the village in those days was by canoe across the lake. As I pulled up at the shore, I noticed a stunning young woman with very long hair at the springs, washing clothes. It turned out she was an American, and she told me her name was Janice and that she was a Cherokee. She was doing some sort of research into indigenous people at Trunyan on the other side of the lake.

Unfortunately, she left the next day and I've never seen her since. But then, it gets weird. The day after she left, a young man turned up in Toyabunka saying he was 'looking for Janice'. We told him she'd left, but because it was late and starting to get dark, he stayed the night and I cooked him a meal. I took a photo of him which I've still got.

Months later, I was landing at Moscow airport. There was a tap on my shoulder, and David introduced himself. He remembered me from Toyabunka.  We can a meal together at the Aeroflot Hotel in Moscow and he told me he'd been told Janice had been in Moscow.

I went to England, got a job and married an English girl. We decided to backpack to Australia. It was now late 1979, early 1980. On the island of Crete, we walked into the Post Office and saw David from Toyabunka.  Far Out!! I'd told my wife the story of Janice and it was as though this happened to prove that it was true.

No - that's not  the end of it. I raised three kids in Australia, and
the Janice story became a bit of a family legend. I'm sure the kids through it was just a Mum and Dad tale.

In 1996 I took the family back to Bali and we went back to Toyabunka. I was greeted as if I was McArthur returning. The whole village turned out, chickens were quickly killed and cooked and I became famous for fifteen minutes. Of course, we had to go to the temple to give thanks.

Now, when you go to a Balines temple, you have to wear a sarong to cover bare legs. Men also wear a sash. The temple workers usually rent this to foreigners to earn a bit of money, and although I had my own, I went along with it.

At the end of the ceremony, I went to return the sarong. There was a small hut and my wife and three children trooped in. I was asked if I'd sign the visitor's book. In front of four witnesses, I signed the book which revealed that THE DAY BEFORE there was an entry that read "Janice - The Cherokee Nation"

I've never seen Janice since 1978, and then, for just a few hours. What is she doing in our lives? Who is she? What's the significance?

Wayne Smith - Perth, Australia

Recognising an Accent

I prepared a document for the Deputy Director of Education and emailed it to her. She was delighted and said she'd pick it up at 3pm. At 3pm however, a middle aged courier turned up at my door and said"cum fet paypuh fet woman ut toffice'

I said, That sounds like a Lancashire accent. Where are you from?

He said, "thay'll not of eard of it -snere Manchester"

I said I was from that area too.

Anyway, he said he was from Heywood and I said my Dad had taught in Heywood. My Dad had just died and my Mum had sent a lot of documents including photos. One of the photos was one of those really long ones that show a school class and the teacher off to one side. I got the photo and the man said " Aye, that thee father and that's me" and he pointed to a young boy on the front row.

Now - If...
If my Mum hadn't have sent the photo...
If the lady had collected the document herself...
If I hadn't recognised the accent...

Wayne Smith - Perth, Australia

Number 3

I had a man in my office and he gave me a document that said "Lancashire and Cheshire Institute". It was a sort of certificate. My wife is from Cheshire and I'm from Lancashire so I asked him, "Are you Lancashire or Cheshire. (This all takes place in Australia I must add.)

He says he is from Cheshire. There are few big towns in Cheshire, its mainly little villages. My wife Wendy asked him where he was from and he named a tiny village that has maybe four houses. Wendy said here sister had lived in Primrose Cottage and he said "so did I" It turned out that this man used to play with Wendy's sister was he was a kid.

Now - there are 6 billion people in the world and we are 12,000 miles from England. So what are the chances. And what if I HADN'T asked about Lancashire or Chesire. Or if I hadn't requested to see his educational papers. It is all quite weird.

These are just three of many many things like this that have happened. I have no idea what is happening, but am convinced that there is something going on that we don't yet understand.

Wayne Smith - Perth, Australia

Yellow Bird

The year is 1961.  I am eleven years old and in my bedroom alone with our record player/radio.  On the turn table is a vinyl 45 rpm record of "Yellow Bird", an instrumental that has become quite popular on the top 40 charts and one of my very first records.  While I play the record, I eye the large round knob positioned on the side of the cabinet.  This is the control that changes the function to either AM radio or record player.  As the song is playing, for no apparent reason I decide to turn the knob (this is not something I would normally do).  To my amazement, there is no change in the sound! I switch the knob back again. Still no change.  I begin to think it's broken.  I switch back and forth repeatedly until at last I detect some change.  To my relief, our entertainment system is not broken.  I have merely switched from the 45 to my preset favorite radio station at the very moment when my record synchronized with the same song that the radio station is also playing.  As I continue to switch back and forth, I notice that the two songs are now moving out of synch. I switch until the song ends.  They end seconds apart.

Tom - Evanston, IL
Sinchronic@aol.com 

White Horse

Recently I awoke in the midst of an elaborate dream involving a white horse.  Although the details of the dream soon faded, the image of that white horse stuck in my mind. The next day while driving and playing a tape of Sarah Brightman, the song "Deliver me" came on which was nothing new as I had heard the whole tape many times and it is all good. But for some reason this time I was really digging it. I cranked the volume and just grooved. As the song came to its end the traffic came to a halt at a red light. I found myself stopped directly behind a white mustang with a license plate which read "DELIVERD".

Tom - Evanston, IL
Sinchronic@aol.com 

Man in White

My wife and I rented a video from a local New Age store that had some alternative videos.  We rented one by a local researcher/investigator named Marshall Barnes.  The video was about the supposed "men in black" and his personal experiences related to the subject.  As it was low budget, we made fun of it, and somewhat dismissed it all together.  There was one sequence of video that was of a man dressed in all white, with a white fedora hat.  The footage was taken in downtown Columbus, Ohio.  I have to admit he looked out of place.  The clothing looked authentic to the 1920's or 30's, but definitely not modern.  At any rate, when we took the video back to the store (not even close to downtown), the same man in the video, in the same clothing, crossed the street in front of us as we were turning into the parking lot to return the tape.  I have to admit it blew our circuits.  We have never seen this man again!  I have since seen Marshall Barnes and have subsequently listened more carefully to his experiences.

Sheila's Story

My daughter introduced me to Synchronicity by lending me the book "The Celestine Prophecy.  Having lived many years in a rural part of Scotland...my husband and I decided to return to the City. With my moving arrangements almost complete I took a huge fit of the "wobbles" and had serious doubts about my decision to move. On the wall of my present home I had a favourite picture. It depicted a woman with a silly hat pulling a reluctant wee Jack Russell dog behind her. Being the owner of a similar hat and also the owner of a wee Jack Russell this picture was almost a self portrait. I decided to travel to my prospective new home and view it one more time to reassure myself. Arriving at my destination I go off the bus two blocks early and decided to walk to the flat but on the way noticed for the first time a small tea shop.

Deciding to boost my flagging spirits I popped into the shop and sat down at the table furthest from the door. During my short stay the owner appeared and started to fuss about the shop trying to find a spot for something he wished to hang on the wall, after a lengthy almost ridiculous deliberation he decided to hang it right above my table. You guessed it.....the very same picture I had hanging on the wall at my present address. I took it as a sign I was meant to move and on reaching the flat was told by the Agent for the property would I mind very much looking around by myself as she had to get back to feed her own wee Jack Russell! My decision was happily made.

Sheila - Scotland

Synchronicity On This Very Web Site!

I was reading all the stories on your web site regarding synchronicity and at the same time, wondering why I haven't noticed synchronicity in my life lately.  I felt I was aware and open, but nothing was happening.  Maybe I was trying too hard.  Then I came across a story posted by Michael Anthony, and noticed he was from Toronto, as I am.  I was intrigued, so I clicked on to his web-site.  I almost fell out of my chair at that point!  You see, in the last couple of weeks, I've been entertaining the idea of training as a hypnotherapist, and that's exactly what Michael does!  I have been searching various training programs and trying to decide if a) this is the career for me and b) which facility offers the best training.  I plan to call Michael and ask him some questions about a career in this field.  Thank you for a great web-site!

Steely Dan

I had a friend in high school who told me a story about what happened to him once.  He went to a party one night and got real drunk on whiskey.  Then he left in his car and was playing a Steely Dan tape.  Right now I don't recall the name but it has the lines: "drink scotch whiskey all night long a die behind the wheel."  Anyway, he drove straight into an oak tree and his tape stopped right at the beat before "and die behind the wheel."  He wasn't hurt but needless to say he took it as an omen to not drink and drive!

Chris Dupre

C.M.'s Story

I want to tell you about a highly unusual chain of events that occurred in the fall of 1997. I was with a friend driving from Minneapolis towards a state park 60 or so miles from home for a day out. The English national soccer team were at that time just finishing a crucial World Cup qualifying game in Italy and being from England and a soccer fan I was burning with a desire to know the outcome. At that moment we were in the middle of nowhere and I asked my friend whether she would mind turning off somewhere to find a gas station in order that I may call a friend in England. This I did (the news was good!) and we shortly rejoined the road we had left. Within a minute or two we were involved in a bad accident. A vehicle a few cars ahead of us had suddenly stopped to turn but had remained on the road causing us to screech to a halt, narrowly avoiding a collision, only for the car behind us to slam into our rear. I recall seeing a gathering on a nearby hillside and then saw someone running down the hill towards us. This person then proceeded to help us out of the car, direct traffic away from the scene of
the crash and arrange for someone to call the police and ambulance service.

My story now switches to the following Monday afternoon, 50 miles away in Minneapolis. I had just finished work and was waiting for a bus when I noticed another friend who was also a soccer fan. He immediately told me that he hadn't seen the game and was on his way home to watch a recording of it. I feared I would give away an indication of the result so I decided to wait for a totally different bus. On that bus I sat down and was conscious of the person next to me looking at me. I looked around and to my (and his) utter astonishment realized that it was the person who had come running down the hill 50 miles away in the countryside! We both found the situation somewhat surreal and as we talked he told me that he had never previously been to that part of the state before but had only gone at the last minute to help out a friend.

As I thought about this story afterwards I realized that I had twice altered my course due to this soccer game and that these events seemed to be linked.  Mere coincidence? Perhaps. Synchronicity? Maybe, and even if we often do not know what events like this mean perhaps the message lies in the thoughts provoked within us and in our individual interpretation of them....

Getting to Know Synchronicity

When I began experiencing synchronicity in my life I had no understanding of the concept and was very confused by everything.   I had recently begun to believe that there was a higher form of intelligence in the Universe.  I started to create paintings that were an homage to my trust in the Universe.  Then one day I felt as though everything I heard on the radio related to what I was thinking about or doing.

I had heard that this was a form of mental illness and became afraid.  Then it became clear that I was still functioning fine, but had become attuned to the patterns of the Universe and could begin to understand how I was connected.  I tried to explain this to my friends but I couldn't find the words.

When I began reading about James Redfield's ideas in the Celestine Prophecy books I began to feel less alone.  In fact, the way he made it sound normal helped me accept what I was not only fine but blessed.

The biggest source of synchronicity in my life is my 200 disc CD changer.  I bought this about a year ago and put all of my CDs in it.  I find that throughout the day, the music matches what is going on around me.   I understand electronics enough to know that the discs are "randomly" generated, but after awhile it becomes impossible to ignore the correlation between the songs and the events occurring simultaneously.

In other words, I often hear a very positive song after something particularly good happens such as finding out about receiving money or receiving a kind Email from a friend.

I used to work as a therapist and know that many of my clients who spoke about not wanting to hear the radio or television were probably experiencing synchronicity.  However, their environment didn't support this idea, and so they were seen as "crazy" and given labels like schizophrenic or manic-depressive.  I believe now that many people labeled mentally ill have simply become aware of the concept of synchronicity but don't have the environmental support to understand what is going on.

As more and more people begin to understand synchronicity, nobody will feel alone in these beliefs, and we'll begin to operate as a more efficient system.

Mystic Life

Carole's Story

Well, I have about a million stories that are examples of synchronicity touching my life, this one is a) one of my favorites, and b) was brought to mind right now, by the mention, in Mystic Life's story of the 200 CD changer! (coincidence?....HA! I think not!)

So, here it is..... I am from Houston, but had always wanted to live in L.A.! Even before I'd ever been there, I felt drawn there. I always felt as though I belonged there (again, this is before I'd ever laid eyes on the place!). Anyway, in 1986, a series of tragic events, opened up the opportunity for me to move there.

Of course, at this particular time, I had an excellent job that I loved (and there was tremendous opportunity for advancement). And, having been born and raised in Houston, I had a lot of friends -- not to mention family, most of whom could not understand why I had this overwhelming desire to move to a city that I knew virtually nothing about! But I digress....

OK...so the opportunity to pick up and move (with my very best friend in the world, who I'd known since we were 2 years old!) to L.A. had presented itself. I'd even "lucked" out and found an awesome job in L.A. -- so now, that company was waiting for me to get there as they needed me to start ASAP. All I had left to do was give notice at my job. For some reason, that was worrying me more than anything else about the move!! So having procrastinated about giving notice, I was down to the very last day that I could give notice and make it to L.A in time to begin my new job on the date that I'd agreed to.

Driving to work that morning, I was a bundle of nerves! In my mind, I was beginning to think of all kinds reasons why I should NOT make the move, etc.. Finally, a half mile from the office, I took a deep breath (well, OK, several deep breaths!!) and began to pray for a sign that would make it clear that the move was the right thing to do.

In the middle of my prayer, I reached down and changed the station on the radio. With the first push of the button, I was shocked, surprised, flabbergasted.....and suddenly at peace with the decision to go to L.A. You see, the song that came on was Led Zeppelin's "Goin' to California"!!!  Suddenly... and obviously....I knew! Without a doubt!!!!!  Oh, and, it was the best move I've ever made!!!

Thanks for allowing me to share my story!!!

Carole Rogers-Billingsley (regrettably, back in Houston....for the time being!)

Adele's Story

I read your web site with interest. I didn't know that there was a word for what I have experienced, until recently. I had a very settled home and social life. My career had had hitches, but nothing to worry about. And yet I felt out of place somehow. I am of Irish ancestry, and even though I had never visited Ireland, I felt very drawn there, to the extent that I was afraid to go in case I didn't come back! Around the same time, I kept having recurring dreams and thoughts about gently floating on a river, in a boat, through the centre of Oxford or Cambridge. This was always accompanied by my noticing a stag. The stag could be part of an advert, or on a page of an open book, but it was always there.

In the meantime, I still felt very drawn to Ireland and investigating working there, but was sure that the strict taxation laws would make the costs involve prohibitive. I felt trapped - I knew what I wanted, but couldn't get there - I would have had to pay 46% tax instead of the British 23% tax, and couldn't take the pay cut. SO I asked for guidance. Suddenly everything made sense. Boats in Oxford and Cambridge are called "punts" which is of course, the Irish Unit of currency. I found an Irish pound coin and turned it over, to see the picture of the stag! Very shortly later, I was offered a job working in Ireland for a British company, and paid in sterling, so no tax problem. Everything I dreamed of is suddenly real, and I'd had all these pointers for so long!

Adele Spencer - Co. Wicklow, Ireland