The Revolutionary Power of Synchronicity
And how I am going to use it to fulfill my dream of leaving the city and starting an earth-centred life in the countryside.
And why this is, in fact, a revolutionary act of political disobedience.
Ever since I started this journey from the city to the country, I have maintained a faith in synchronicity and miracles. This dream is just simply too big to consider that I may be able to figure it all by myself, through hard work and my own strategising alone.
For many people, this may sound cheesy at best and hocus-pocus at worst. Some people may find even this notion just down right stupid!
Perhaps, dear reader, you are already getting ready to stop reading this post in favour of something much more logical and sensible.
If this is the case, please, don’t let me detain you.
However, I will say that in maintaining rigid logical beliefs about how one goes about accomplishing things in the world- through our own force and our force alone- you may be denying yourself the possibility to collaborate with another powerful force that is freely available and willing to co-create your life with you.
Invisible Forces
I call this power synchronicity: when things just happen in a serendipitous manner without explanation. I also call these occurrences miracles: when the impossible and unexpected happens, often referred to as having experienced ‘good luck’
I have to admit, I feel somewhat self-conscious talking like this at times. It is much easier to think these things in my private, internal world. In my normal everyday life, I am well aware of how it could sound to people who are not receptive to such ideas.
Especially since in our rational, mind-driven culture, any occurrence that invokes a sense of awe and mystery is just written off as a mere ‘coincidence’, whilst any talk of miracles has people thinking that you have suddenly turned religious. Indeed, be careful when using this kind of language, because you run the risk of being labelled as a bit of a weirdo!
However, I have come to a point in my life where I have discovered that being a ‘weirdo’ is actually a great thing. I consider it a great compliment. It shows me that I have left the realm of the mediocre and mundane and entered the realm of the mad geniuses, the visionaries, and the great adventures.
For when we leave the dominant thought patterns and beliefs of our culture, we are in effect becoming an adventurer. Without the old societal beliefs holding us back and making us unreceptive to anything outside of our ‘known’ reality, we are freer to entertain new ideas. This means we are also free to interpret our experiences in different ways, and perhaps discover how other ways of looking at the world can bring a sense of wonder and magic into our lives.
I think, therefore I am
I started to see the world through a different lens when I left my friends, family and culture behind and went to Hong Kong to teach English in 2010. Up until then, my worldview was that of mainstream Western culture, especially since I had just completed a bachelor of science degree. I was well versed in objectivity and the intellectual superiority of the rational mind. Rational reasoning was the order of the day and anything outside of this was just fanciful and silly.
Indeed, we live in a society whereby the dominant narrative is that the greatest power of all is the human intellect. We strategise and plan our way through life, without requiring any outside assistance, forcing our way no matter what in a courageous feat of strength and bravery.
Man rules the world and can dominate any obstacle that gets in his way in the pursuit of growth and prosperity. That includes the Earth, her plants, rivers, mountains and animals, even other cultures and people.
This is survival of the fittest and it is Man, with his intellectual prowess, that is at the top of the food chain. Any other culture that has a different way of seeing the world is cast as backwards and less intelligent, thereby asserting our superiority and justifying its dismantling in the name of global development.
Narrative
Of course, we all know this story well. This is the basis of patriarchy, one of the founding principles of Western society. In its purest form, it is the masculine principle run riot, which has given rise to mind-based cultures based on domination, force and control. It negates and suppresses the feminine in all her flow, interconnectedness and mystery in a quest to conquer all that cannot be fully understood and controlled.
The deep, wet, delicate jungles of the Earth are chopped down, the seeds of life altered and engineered, and all cultures that are connected to the Earth and her magic in a deeper way are wiped out (amongst many other things).
It is Man, with his clever rational mind and ability to control the world with his clever plans that rules the Earth. It is only a matter of time until he is the master of the Universe, such is the extent of his brilliance. Ever more disconnected from nature, he is arrogant. He can plan, strategise, control, force, and dominate his way to any desired outcome.
Thus, we live our lives by this heroic story. We control the spontaneous nature of life to fit our plans, feeling comfortable in our certainty that we have our life and our dreams under control. The only way that things can be achieved is through force, struggle and hard work.
Hence why phenomena such as synchronicity and miracles have no place in a culture based on control and domination. They are controlled by outside forces beyond the comprehension of the human rational mind and therefore need to be irradiated and suppressed.
After all, how on earth can you achieve anything by relying on forces that are outside of your control?
That is not a way to live your life…
… Is it?
Journey from the City to the Country
Amidst this worn-out story I find myself with a dream of leaving the city and starting an alternative, earth-centred life in the country. According to this story, I should be planning and strategising. I should be forcing my way and making things happen.
If I don’t know the answer, I need to remedy this quickly in order to take control of this situation. This way I will ensure that my dream is achieved and I can proudly discuss my plans and show people how clever I am for coming up with all the solutions to these difficult obstacles.
Or so my societal programming tells me. And other people for that matter:
“You have to make your own life happen”, they tell me.
“You need to work harder!”, they insinuate.
Good-hearted people share their own 5/7/10 years plans and strategies and give me well meaning advice.
And I, appreciative of the time they have generously taken to try to help me, respond in gratitude. Yet, in my heart I sense that it is not the way that this dream is going to come to fruition.
Please understand, dear reader, it is not that I think that I can sit on the couch and expect the world to hand me my dreams on a plate. It is my full intention to ‘make my own life happen’ and take the concrete steps I need to take.
However, I intend to do so in collaboration with the Universe.
For example, synchronicity may have had a helping hand in sending me the people who let me know about the permaculture design course I did, but it was me who had to do the work and complete it. This is a partnership; an example of co-creation on various levels.
Co-creation
I am not on this journey alone; the Universe is accompanying me in every step.
It nudges me in the direction that I need to go in with small whisperings of intuition in my heart, which I experience as positive impulses towards a certain action, otherwise known as inspiration.
This inspired action is how I started out on this journey, and is the guiding force behind the creation of this blog, and all the steps that I have taken so far along the path.
This is my part of the partnership: acting on my intuitive impulses and taking action in the direction that I am guided to. I also need to listen, calm my mind and commit myself to unlearning the patriarchal control programming of society. This requires the nurturing of a different way of doing things in the world: leading by the heart and staying in alignment with what feels right even when it appears to be illogical.
The Universe is faithful in its part in sending my way the people, information and opportunities needed to help me take my next steps. I find myself in the right place at the right time, people reaching out to me just at the right moment and so and so forth.
Decolonise Your Dreams
I will not colonise this journey with the control strategies of an old paradigm that is long out of date by taking action just because it logically makes sense, or to impress others with my clever progress.
I will not suppress, control or dominate my dream. Instead, I will nurture it, flow with it, trust in it, surrender to it and desire that its accomplishment is for the benefit of all, not just myself.
Make no mistake, this is a revolutionary political act.
Believing in miracles and synchronicity is a revolutionary political act also.
This flies in the face of all that we have been programmed to think and the way we have been taught to be in the world.
In my case, this journey that is underway, is in no way logical. It has never made any sense. In fact, looked at through the eyes of the rational mind, it is completely bonkers!
But the Universe doesn’t just dish out all the answers in order to make the logical mind more comfortable. We have to learn to trust the process and allow ourselves to open up to the possibility of co-creation.
From leading with the head, we lead with the heart, for the benefit of all.
Final Thoughts
I once listened to a Druid podcast, in which the guest was talking about the magical nature of life.
They offered the following question:
“What interpretation brings the most magic to your life?”.
Seeing my own journey through this magical lens of synchronicity and unseen forces, I experience it as being rich with mystery, full of joy of the unexpected, wonder and grace.
However, this is just my perspective. We live in a multi-dimensional world in which many different perspectives can exist in equal validity at the same moment.
Maybe I am just a new age weirdo deluding myself of the real facts of how the world works.
Or maybe I am a visionary adventurer exploring new dimensions of life as yet undiscovered by mainstream culture.
This, dear reader, is for you to decide.
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Let’s co-create a more beautiful world!
Dear Olivia,
You are a visionary adventurer you fukin weirdo and don’t ever forget it. Weirdos rock this world.
Magic, mystery and synchronicity are as real as blood, water and earth under your finger nails .
Enjoy every bit of “good luck ” and connection that the universe gifts.
YOU my dear are right on track , keep on rolling in the flow.
Best wishes Stoyd, your weirdo well wisher.
This comment really brought a smile to my face 🙂 Thanks a lot Stoyd! It’s great to have connected with a fellow weirdo visionary adventurer 😀
Hi Olivia, thank you for another interesting read. My wife always tells me that occasionally you must jump off cliffs, (take chances), I say “only if I have a parachute on my back” I plan….we are chalk and cheese. Though we are both Pagans, and feel at one in our natural and universal beliefs. Stick with your journey….all the way to its outcome. Xx
Hi Tim! You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Thanks for your comment.
Yes, feeling at one with ourselves and the world is most important thing at the end of the day, isn’t it? Living true to what feels right for us and celebrating our differences. Sergio and I are also chalk and cheese in the sense that he hates any talk of ‘hippy’ things like synchronicity, (despite being a terrible planner!) but somehow we still flow together well.
Let’s see what the next chapter brings.
All the best! xx
Hola, me gusta mucho este escrito que has hecho, Olivia. Porque aunque en apariencia estás mostrando una especie de ruptura radical, dejando atrás la opción de quedarte sumida (y sumisa) en el mundo patriarcal, creo que lo estás viviendo de una manera inclusiva, en el sentido que te permites y responsabilizas explícitamente en estar con los pies en la tierra. Cada vez más en la tierra, de hecho. ¿Qué hay más terrenal que conectar con el corazón?. El ritmo del bum, bum, bum, bum… Y digo inclusivo, porque además de hablar de responsabilidad en la acción en lo que esté en la mano de una misma, nos hablas también del universo, que en muchos sentidos, podría ser un opuesto a lo individual. Justo como la dicotomía entre patriarcado individualista e intuición femenina que permanece conectada a lo misterioso, inexplicable e indomable, y no por ello sinónimos de amenazante, equivocado y perjudicial.
He escrito con tizas en mi pared de pizarra: “el multiverso susurra, yo atiendo, y actúo inspirado”.
Ánimo Olivia, en post de tu sueños, caminando honrando a la trama más que al desenlace.
Procuraré citar este blog cuando me encuentre en conversaciones relativas a estos conflictos de los que tratas en tus escritos.
Gracias
Gracias Oscar, por otra comentario muy bonito. Me alegro mucho que hayas gustado y que hayas encontrado en mi escrito que te ha inspirado. Muchas gracias por compartirlo conmigo. Aquí dejo tu comentario en inglés para que se puede disfrutar otrxs lectxres:
Oscar’s comment in English:
Hi, I really like this writing you’ve done, Olivia. Because although on the surface you are showing a kind of radical break, leaving behind the option of remaining submerged (and submissive) in the patriarchal world, I think you are living it in an inclusive way, in the sense that you are allowing yourself and taking responsibility explicitly to be grounded, more and more grounded, in fact.
What’s more down to earth than connecting with the heart? The rhythm of boom, boom, boom, boom, boom… And I say inclusive, because as well as talking about responsibility for action in whatever is in one’s own hand, you also talk about the universe, which in many ways, could be an opposite of the individual. Just like the dichotomy between individualistic patriarchy and feminine intuition that remains connected to the mysterious, inexplicable and indomitable, and not therefore synonymous with threatening, wrong and harmful.
I have written in chalk on my chalkboard wall: “the multiverse whispers, I listen, and act inspired”.
Courage Olivia, in pursuit of your dreams, walking honouring the journey rather than the outcome.
I will endeavour to cite this blog when I find myself in conversations regarding these conflicts you discuss in your writings.
Thank you