At the center of the universe
Something odd has happened twice in the last week. I've thought about someone who I haven't seen/heard from in a long while, only to have them contact me the next day. While this is a standard example of synchronicity (the person that picks up the phone to call an old friend only to be stopped by an incoming call from the same friend.) In my case, the contact was offset by a day or more from the original urge to contact and happened via email/Facebook messages (or depending how you see it, within the dream world).
Since I've rarely if ever had such an experience, I didn't realize what they would feel like. Obviously, they feel awesome, like most synchronicities. But they also feel, in my present perception, a little bit like being at the center of the universe...like the world really does revolve around me. Almost like realizing I am Truman, in the movie The Truman Show. Or like I am living in a simulated world in which my experience is really all that exists. The details of one of the experiences are below, followed by a possible explanation.
I haven't talked to my best friend from grade school in a very long time--perhaps not for a year, and even then only on Facebook. (Every now and then--the last time was in 2010--we get together and catch up.) Anyway, on Friday afternoon I was driving home from work when I decided I should contact her, but I didn't follow through right away. On Saturday she sent me a message on Facebook that she had a dream about me on Friday night, and said "Over the years I've learned that there's a strange connection between you and me and that things like dreams mean something. I'm just checking in to see how you're doing and say hi!". Then she told me about her dream, in which we got together and talked--she vaguely remembered details about my plans for writing and my current emotional state. And in the manner of a fortune teller, she was exactly right in both regards. Obviously, she knows I've always loved to write. But last week I stayed up all night one night (maybe Wednesday?) hatching a plan to begin writing...ruminating on ideas for blogs, essays, and books. She was also right on about my emotional state, which has nothing to do with excitement about writing, and was able to pin point the reason for my state. I realize that both of my friend's "correct" intuitions could really just be confirmation bias (not to mention that she knows me well enough to easily guess some parts), and I was able to find the truth in her guesses because so much is going on in my life that just about anything could be true.
And confirmation bias could also explain why the emails from my friends seem synchronous. It occurred to me last night that on any given day I think about 100 different people--my coworkers, my friends, my family, and various acquaintances and strangers. These thoughts don't become significant until something happens--for example, I run into the person I was thinking about the next day. Then I selectively remember the thought I had about them the day before as more important than the million other things I thought about. This really seems the most likely explanation...but like my friend said--we just seem to have a connection which ties us.
Since I've rarely if ever had such an experience, I didn't realize what they would feel like. Obviously, they feel awesome, like most synchronicities. But they also feel, in my present perception, a little bit like being at the center of the universe...like the world really does revolve around me. Almost like realizing I am Truman, in the movie The Truman Show. Or like I am living in a simulated world in which my experience is really all that exists. The details of one of the experiences are below, followed by a possible explanation.
I haven't talked to my best friend from grade school in a very long time--perhaps not for a year, and even then only on Facebook. (Every now and then--the last time was in 2010--we get together and catch up.) Anyway, on Friday afternoon I was driving home from work when I decided I should contact her, but I didn't follow through right away. On Saturday she sent me a message on Facebook that she had a dream about me on Friday night, and said "Over the years I've learned that there's a strange connection between you and me and that things like dreams mean something. I'm just checking in to see how you're doing and say hi!". Then she told me about her dream, in which we got together and talked--she vaguely remembered details about my plans for writing and my current emotional state. And in the manner of a fortune teller, she was exactly right in both regards. Obviously, she knows I've always loved to write. But last week I stayed up all night one night (maybe Wednesday?) hatching a plan to begin writing...ruminating on ideas for blogs, essays, and books. She was also right on about my emotional state, which has nothing to do with excitement about writing, and was able to pin point the reason for my state. I realize that both of my friend's "correct" intuitions could really just be confirmation bias (not to mention that she knows me well enough to easily guess some parts), and I was able to find the truth in her guesses because so much is going on in my life that just about anything could be true.
And confirmation bias could also explain why the emails from my friends seem synchronous. It occurred to me last night that on any given day I think about 100 different people--my coworkers, my friends, my family, and various acquaintances and strangers. These thoughts don't become significant until something happens--for example, I run into the person I was thinking about the next day. Then I selectively remember the thought I had about them the day before as more important than the million other things I thought about. This really seems the most likely explanation...but like my friend said--we just seem to have a connection which ties us.
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