Everything, everywhere, all at once
Is synchronicity really a thing? Of do we just think it is?
We’ve all been there. You clear your schedule for a whole day, waiting for a delivery or a tradesman to arrive.
You hover within earshot of the front door like a loyal sheepdog. Hours pass. Nothing.
The moment you answer an important phone call, step into the shower, or retreat to the smallest room in the house with a newspaper, the doorbell rings. Loudly. Repeatedly. And you’ve got a problem.
This, many would argue, is synchronicity at work.
The term was popularised by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, who used it to describe “meaningful coincidences” — events that occur together in a way that feels significant, even if there’s no obvious cause linking them. The universe, apparently, has a sense of humour.
But is something deeper going on? Do things really happen at the same time for a reason? Or do we just stitch meaning onto random threads?
One explanation is perception. Our brains are superb pattern-spotters. We’re wired to notice when events collide, particularly when it’s inconvenient, embarrassing or mildly infuriating.
When the delivery arrives while we’re sitting patiently on the sofa doing nothing, it barely registers. When it arrives at the precise moment we’re indisposed, it becomes a story — retold, embellished and filed away as proof that “this always happens to me”.
There’s also confirmation bias at play. We remember the hits and forget the misses. The hundreds of times nothing unusual coincides are quietly discarded, while the handful of overlaps are elevated to cosmic significance. Over time, the coincidences feel frequent, even inevitable.
And yet — and this is where synchronicity refuses to be entirely dismissed — some coincidences do feel oddly resonant.
Meeting the right person at the right moment. Hearing precisely the advice you need from an unexpected source. Thinking of someone just before they call. These moments can feel like life really is tapping you on the shoulder.
Whether that’s the universe aligning its gears or our minds assigning meaning is still up for debate. Science tends to favour probability and perception. Philosophy and poetry leave room for mystery.
Perhaps synchronicity sits somewhere between the two. Not evidence of a grand cosmic plan, but a reminder that life isn’t just a sequence of isolated events.
Meaning doesn’t always come from why things happen, but from how we interpret them.