It’s Not Just a Coincidence

 Last Saturday, Lorna and I went for breakfast – as is our habit i.e., going out for a traditional breakfast at a restaurant.  The fact that our server had extensive tattoos on her arm caught my attention.  I had made note of that on previous occasions.  However, this time I wondered what was the attraction of tattoos for people and what motivates them to go through the expense or time and money – not to mention the discomfort (so I’m told) of being tattooed? 

Well, I didn’t think much more of it and let the question lie and fall back out of my consciousness.  Then, later that day, I opened the email for the Weekly Roundup from the Pew Research Center which I subscribe to.  The topic for this weekly roundup is ‘Americans and tattoos’.  This, naturally, made me sit up and take note.  The information was interesting e.g., 32% of Americans have a tattoo, including 22% who have more than one; For Americans without tattoos, seeing one on someone else gives them a more negative than positive impression of that person.  These are interesting data on the state of tattooing in the United States. 

There was also information that answered my initial question about why people get tattoos.  Sixty nine percent of those with tattoos was it is t honour someone or something; 47% say it is to make a statement; 32% say it is to improve their personal appearance. 

It is rewarding to have my question answered.  However, what really engaged me was whether this was a case of synchronicity.  Synchronicity is a term coined by psychologist Carl Jung for an occurrence that can most easily described as a significant coincidence.  Merriam-Webster dictionary defines synchronicity as:

the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (such as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality —used especially in the psychology of Carl Gustav Jung.”

Jung explained this seemingly inexplicable phenomena by drawing on his concept of the Collective Unconscious in which is the common inheritance of all humans and in which the usual laws of time and space and causality (no apparent cause and effect), do not apply.  This is described by one source, https://iaap.org/jung-analytical-psychology/short-articles-on-analytical-psychology/synchronicity-an-acausal-connecting-principle/:

A key signature concept in Jung’s vision of the world, synchronicity was defined by Jung as an acausal connecting principle, whereby internal, psychological events are linked to external world events by meaningful coincidences rather than causal chains.

 I have had what I consider synchronistic events in my life that have proven significant for me.  The best example is a synchronistic event which was about synchronicity.  Many years ago, I was taking a course in Jungian Psychology at the University of Toronto.  The lecture on the subject of synchronicity was held on April 1^st, which is my birthday.  The lecture used the Portable Jung as the text for this subject.  When we explore the applicable section, it began with an event which occurred on April 1, 1949.  This is my date of birth.  I queried the professor whether he had chosen the subject specifically because the date of the class was April 1^st.  However, he stated that he hadn’t done this.  So, we have a triple coincidence – the date of the class, the subject of the lecture, and my date of birth all coinciding.

When considering the issue of synchronicity, we must always consider the possibility of mere coincidence without significance.  Jung, in his writing, has gone into some depth on the question of mathematical probability and showing that many synchronistic occurrences and mathematically highly improbable.  However, I believe what must be considered is, what makes it significant?  In my experience these events have been an invitation to change course or to confirm a course in my life.  In the case of the example above it was an invitation from my unconscious to continue my exploration and education of Jungian Psychology.  I have done that since that occurrence, and I have pursued that in many ways including paying attention to my dreams and helping others to explore and understand their dreams. 

So, you may ask, was my encounter with tattoos a case of synchronicity or just a coincidence?  Tattoos themselves, are an interesting subject worth exploring and have great symbolic meaning.  However, I don’t believe that is what make it significant for me.  I found that I was at a time in which I need to renew my interest in Jungian concept and have not been exploring much of that lately.  My exergy and interest have been waning.  I believe that my tattoos coincidence was synchronistic because it reenergized my activity in the Jungian approach to understanding myself and the world.  And that, in the end settles it for me.

I invite you to pay attention to the significant coincidents on your journey.