by Cortney Litwin 

A "coincidence" that seems too uncanny might not be just a fluke. When events mysteriously come together in a meaningful way that defies explanation, it's called synchronicity.

Have you ever had the experience of thinking of someone, perhaps a friend you haven't seen for awhile, only to have them call you out of the blue? There's usually a feeling of awe that accompanies such an occurrence. That kind of synchronicity reminds us that there is a cosmic thread that links us all together.

Let's explore three synchronicity stories and the effects they had.

Synchronicity Leads to Love
A synchronicity can be a form of spiritual guidance, the universe's way of communicating with you. In Stacy's case, it served as a matchmaker:

After I met my future husband at an industry party, I simply thought of him as 'just another manager who wants my help' (I was a journalist). In fact, he lived 5,000 miles away and was married, so it never even entered my mind to be romantically interested in him. He felt the same way, actually. He had emailed me shortly after that night and I had not answered him for more than a month. Then one day it popped in my head to email 'that nice British' guy. My phone rang as I was writing the email and when I picked up the message later, I discovered it was from him and that he'd called at the same time I had hit send on the email.

We had dozens of 'coincidences' happen in the course of the next six months in several cities and on two continents. They usually had something to do with the number 11. A year later when we went to pick a wedding date, my criteria was 'a full moon in the fall on a Saturday night.' Well, the only one in nearly two years was on 11-11-00. And that was (you guessed it!) 11 years ago.

Would Stacy have married her Brit without the help of synchronicity? Who can say? Still, the mysterious occurrences deepened their spiritual bond and helped guide them as a couple.

Barn Owl Message
My own startling synchronicity was the deciding factor in my family's move to Spokane, Washington. It involved a barn owl, which is my favorite "sign" from the Universe because we had a barn owl living in the tree outside our condo in Southern California.

My husband and I were visiting friends in Spokane to check out the area and do some house-hunting. We wanted to live in a medium-size town surrounded by nature, but I was still worried over whether we should take such a big step and move away from our friends and family. On the last day of our visit, as my husband and I got into the car, a voice on the radio announced something that took my breath away. They were about to interview a woman who wrote a book about raising a barn owl, called Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl. That synchronicity convinced us that the Universe supported our desire to make Spokane our home.

Not Forgotten
Synchronicities aren't always as dramatic as the above examples. Sometimes a simple synchronicity can serve as a reminder that there are spiritual powers at work in the world. Another reader, Kathi, experienced such a reminder and offers her own explanation for why it happened:

I had just started a new job as a manager for various phone distribution events. I got an assignment in Wisconsin and I was very excited to go out of state. That day, a car drove by with Wisconsin plates -- unusual because this was a small town in Arizona. What it said to me was that God was aware of what was going on in my life. It was His way of saying "I haven't forgotten you.

For Kathi, this synchronicity was a source of spiritual inspiration.

There's a wonderful fact about synchronicity that is similar to your nightly dreams: the more you pay attention to them, the more they'll happen to you. If you open your mind to seeing the interconnectedness between your inner world and events that take place in your life, you'll open the door to more spiritual guidance in the form of synchronicities.