A wink from the cosmos

I love this title! I stole it from Meg Lundtrom's May 1996 article of the same name in Intuition Magazine.  

I was quickly Googling "syncronicity" before starting this post, and happened upon her article. I had a "syncronistic" day yesterday, and was just verifying that it was, in fact, Carl Jung who coined the term and believed that meaningful coincidences were in fact "a glimpse into the underlying order of the universe."

I love this too. Why can't this be so? Why must some insist that it is only "selective perception" or the human mind finding meaning and significance where there is none?

But I guess it doesn't matter if people are skeptical, because when it happens to you, it's real. It's mysterious and magical and makes you feel as though there is come grand order to the universe that is probably always present, but that you only glimpse from time to time.

Here's how it went down. I was putting in a few hours of work yesterday morning before heading over to meet Jacquie and her girl to go see His Holiness the Dalai Lama speak at USD.

Within these 2.5 hours of work, there were 2 events that left me feeling like the whole world was on my very wavelength, like the universe was telling me to really make the most of this opportunity. To tune in, to listen, to learn.


The first was an email sent to my office that was not intended for my office. It was, in fact, an email from one of our Editorial Board members, but it was (meant to be) a private communication between him and someone from the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies. It had nothing to do with his work with us.

It was nonetheless fascinating. It was discussing EEG signatures -- whether these could be the result of individual energy that transfers from one body to the next during transmigration (the neuroscientist was skeptical). It spoke of meditation and how contemplative practice in combination with neuroscience tools could perhaps help us to better understand the mind (the neuroscientist put forth this idea).

Heady stuff, I tell you.

Then, maybe a half hour later, I was putting together a news article for our neurologic audience that was recently published in Nature Neuroscience, tilted, Changing brains for the better; article documents benefits of multiple practices. The article was discussing brain plasticity, and how we can be more proactive in shaping the positive influences on the brain, by engaging in activities such as physical exercise, meditation, cognitive therapy. Additionally how social stressors can actually physically harm the brain.

Then this line: "Davidson says his work has been shaped by his association with the Dalai Lama, who asked him in the 1990s, 'Why can't we use the same rigorous tools of neuroscience to investigate kindness, compassion, and wellbeing?'

C'mon, really? You may not belive this, but I don't read medical news releases that include quotes from the Dalai Lama every day, and this was not something that was published by a San Diego outlet to purposely coincide with His Holiness' visit to the city. No, this was a press release out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

What can I say? wink.