Are You Talking to Me?

My friend and I were walking today, chatting and catching each other up on things, when she interrupted her story with a sharp "ouch!" A thorny plant alongside the trail had brushed against her hand. She then told me something a psychic said to her: When we are suddenly alarmed –by a slamming door, for instance, or some other brief shock - it's the Universe wanting us to pay attention to something in that moment.

Later we stopped to grab lunch at a grocery store. As we explored the natural foods section, we noticed a bundle of sage and wondered if smudging really worked. Or was it just woo-woo? I thought it could be a little of both, and said it was an example of intent manifesting through ritual, an important tool in dialoguing with the Universe.

It got me to thinking about the "waking dream" aspect of life. Many people have heard the famous dilemma of ancient philosopher Chuang Tzu, who dreamed he was a butterfly doing butterfly things, with no awareness of his human identity. He awoke. "Now," he said, "I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man."

His predicament can be as mind boggling as trying to grasp that the Universe has no edges, no end points. We humans clearly have no conscious experience with Infinity. The true nature of reality is impossible to tease apart. And yet, it's fun to try. So in the spirit of Chuang Tzu: if dream symbols are important messages from our psyche, what about the symbols in waking life? Does that dead bird on your lawn mean something? If your desired goal is blocked and you are steered somewhere new, is this destiny speaking? How do you know whether an occurrence is a "sign" from higher forces – a burning bush, if you will – or just something that happened?

Playing with the possibilities has brought magic and meaning to my life.

Case in point: I was agonizing about leaving a job I'd started only nine months earlier. Having job-hopped quite a bit, I was concerned about explaining another short-lived position to potential employers. Providing my share of the household income was a weighty factor as well. But the situation at work was not salvageable. As I wearily listed, for the umpteenth time, the pros and cons of leaving versus staying, I glanced down at the candy bar I'd been eating and absently turned it over in my hand. Three letters stood out in bold chocolate relief. My mouth flopped open as RUN resonated to my core, announcing in no uncertain terms that my decision had been made.

Was it pure coincidence that I chewed the right letters off of a Nestle's CRUNCH bar? Probably. But that's not the point. The resonance is what counts. This is the nature of a divination tool, be it astrology, angel cards, or someone reading your tea leaves. You are picking up on something some part of you already knows, or senses. It's as if everything in the Universe is a tuning fork, each thing or quality a unique vibration. When one fork is vibrating near other forks, those of the same pitch will automatically vibrate too. (Remember the old Memorex commercial, with the wine glass and the opera singer?) Some might call this resonance synchronicity. The famous story of the beetle and Carl Jung's patient makes for a good sidebar here.

What this means is that we and the Universe are in constant conversation. The things that resonate for you – whether it's Elvis, race cars or men with long hair – are reflecting back to you something about yourself. You may not be conscious of what that something is, but these qualities or objects stir up an energy within that attracts (or repulses) you. Each holds information that could be mined for gold. The alchemy of shadow work comes to mind here.

What about the less obvious symbols, like the fact that I keep coming across little piles of change in the street? The calla lilies a co-worker unexpectedly gave me from her garden during this same period? The dead crow I came across on the sidewalk last week? Deciphering these takes deep self-knowledge, or a willingness to observe yourself and your life from a larger perspective. Dream work, extensive personal work, and the gifts of my midlife transition have given me good tools for getting a 30,000-foot view of themes and patterns in my life, and an idea of where the Universe might want me to go.

To me the coins, found seven or eight times over a few weeks – highly unusual if you ask me - are little breadcrumbs of encouragement that I'm on the right path. I had to laugh when I found a nickel on the floor next to a toilet in a client's office. Was this a message that my metaphorical "shit" had value and needed attention? Sure, you might think this is a stretch, but considering what I've been through lately, where I am in my "transformation" and, if you want to get woo-woo about it, the fact that my astrological transitions accurately predict an examination and cleaning up of lifelong issues – well, it begins to add up.

I've told you only the tip of the iceberg. If I also listed the dreams, conversations, synchronicities, and sudden insights and healings that have also happened over the last few months and years, you might be convinced too. Just play with this idea and see what happens: there are clues and keys to yourself, hidden in plain sight, all over the world.

(Check out this article at Spirituality & Health magazine for another take on such matters.)