Before I became a serious writer, my powers of observation made me about as Sherlock Holmes-like as an open secret or plastic glasses.
In other words, I was a perfect antonym for the famous detective, who took such pains to notice subtle cues and details in the people and situations around him.
I didn’t need blinders. Mine were built in.
Beyond the Five Senses
To break into writing, I had to seriously change my ways. No self-respecting reader would make it past page one of my fiction without the vibrancy and richness of detailed and realistic descriptions, a combination of imagination and careful observation.
On top of that, I chose to write visionary fiction, which goes a step beyond what is observed through the five senses. I’m talking fiction that incorporates telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and ESP.
Visionary fiction opened a new world of paying attention. I needed to receive and transmit information from the unconscious, the kind of stuff hidden below the tip of the iceberg that doesn’t surface unless the observer is in a receptive state.
So how does a visionary fiction writer go about tapping into the submerged?
One way is to pay attention to meaningful coincidences and pleasant surprises; in other words open up to synchronicity and serendipity.
Meaningful Coincidences and Pleasant Surprises.
In the simplest of terms, synchronicity is the experiencing of two or more events as meaningfully related.
Serendipity, on the other hand, is a pleasant surprise, such as the accidental discovery.
I can best explain by example.
Something interesting happened to me while writing down my soul, Janet Conner style.
First I asked my Inner Voice what I should call him or her. A crow cawed outside my living room door. Once. Then silence. I took this as a sign and addressed my Inner Voice as Black Crow.
The following morning the local newspaper featured a story about a blonde woman and her pet raven. I took that as an another sign.
Addressing my Inner Voice, as Black Raven this time, I wrote, “How about a new title for my novel (currently titled Between Now and Forever)?
Jodi Aman
Instantly my Samsung bleeped with a new message, which linked me to a blog post titled “Peace on Earth,” via a website called “She Writes,” of which I am a member.
How nice, I thought, but that’s not an answer.
When I followed the blog link, I came across the site’s header, “Heal Now and Forever be in Peace (italics are mine, in case you didn’t get the connection).”
The blogger’s last name was Aman, close enough to “Amen” to be a sign (sort of).
It was an interesting way to start the day, and I bookmarked Jodi Aman’s site to revisit later.
Tell Jodi. She’ll Know What to Do.
When I returned to Jodi’s site, synchronicity came into play again.
I had just finished reading “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose,” by Eckhart Tolle. At one point, he talked about listening to a friend who was in deep pain. “I looked at her with no thought and no judgment,” he said, “and listened in stillness without any mental commentary.”
Then I read the following in Jodi’s post, Call Jodi. She’ll Know What to Do: “Just listen with compassion and without judgment.”
Wow.
Jodi also talked about helping the poor and the downtrodden, reminding me of the prayer to St Jude I found the previous week in my mother’s Bible (which I opened for the first time since her death four years earlier).
The last line of the prayer was, “St Jude, helper of the hopeless, pray for us. Amen.”
One last example:
For the query and synopsis of my novel, I was trying to put into words what my protagonist had learned and how she had changed during the course of the story.
She wanted to serve, but feared giving up her freedom and individuality.
“She has to overcome her sense of boundary and separateness,” I wrote in my notes. “She has to let go of her past, let go of her story.”
Then, there it was, in Jodi’s post – thoughts so similar to my own. “…the illusion of separation is the only problem, and isolation makes the negative stories in our head worse.”
Do examples of synchronicity and serendipity such as these count as evidence for the collective unconscious as Carl Gustav Jung claimed back in 1920?
As someone who ponders the submerged rather than the tip of the iceberg, I believe the answer is yes.
In a previous post about synchronicity, I concluded:
Though you may have answered CHANCE after each of these synchronicities, I’ve decided to consider these subtle, fleeting, and easily dismissed occurrences as timely arrivals of special information. I’m not sure what this information means as yet, but I’m willing to relinquish cynicism and doubt in favor of synchronicity and serendipity, faith and hope. What can it hurt to have a positive attitude and believe there are opportunities coming my way?
Therapist Jodi Aman and I are now blogging friends thanks to my Inner Voice and the wonderful synchronicities of this life. Visit her site sometime. You’ll be glad you did.
As always, thanks for stopping by,
Margaret,
You always have meaningful insights about your own writing practices as well as for others.
And as far as synchronicity – just this morning I was thinking about what experiences do we need to be able to write Visionary Fiction. Synchronistic experiences aren’t just something you can research and then be able to convincingly and authentically convey in story. You beautifully share a good example of how to do this to inform your VF writing!
Thank you, Jodine. Your opinion means as it comes from a fellow visionary fiction writer. Here’s to many more synchronistic events in our lives and our ability to notice, appreciate, and write about them.
Aw, Margaret, this is beautiful. I am so honored and touched! It has been a special union for me as well. I read Between Now and Forever and felt an instant connection with the heroine. I pictured her with your face- but we were connected. It was a beautiful book and it is a perfect title. We are all just floating here between now and forever- the eternal now. If we can just stay here and not let our minds take us off track, we will all do fine. I love this honoring and thank you from the bottom of my heart! <3
My life is filled with synchronous events. Jung also took notice of this in his own life, which is why I think I connect with his theory of a collective consciousness. The way he explains it is so intimate, he would have to have been there himself.
What Jodi said said about “isolation making the negative stories in our head worse” reminds me of the Buddhist notion of duality and how once we see through our suffering—the coming and going of thoughts—we become fully integrated. But that’s a whole other topic. Nevertheless, I think we need to be integrated to effectively take advantage of the synchronous moments in our lives. They can sometimes come on so strongly as to frighten us. It takes a matter of inner faith to follow along.
You’re welcome, Jodi. And I am honored that you read my novel and felt connected to the heroine. Yes, one of the reasons I chose the title Between Now and Forever is because, as you say, we are in the eternal now. I’m glad we connected through an event I cannot explain, but can fully appreciate. I’ll keep in touch.
You are so right, Eleni, that sometimes synchronous moments come on so strongly as to frighten us. The Samsung “ping” that led me to Jodi’s website was a bit too instant and too close of an answer to my question for me to ignore, which led to a body shiver and more questions. Following along took inner faith, and, that in turn, led to a great new friendship.
This is very interesting to me. There are so many things we can’t explain in this world, and I think it would be wise to be open more to this kind of thinking. Thanks for the post.
I so agree, Rosi. It’s amazing what man has discovered lately about the solar system, the earth, and himself that was seen as heresy in the not so distant past. I watched the first in the series Cosmos: A Space time Odyssey last night, and in its opening, Obama said, “…embrace the spirit of discovery and imagine limitless possibilities for the future.” Being open minded is a good place to start.
Oh, Margaret, what a wonderful post. You have touched upon some basic spiritual truths here. As usual you have added your unique and helpful insights.
Thanks, Jo. I’ll stop by your blog. You recent post looks interesting- and insightful -as well.
Great piece Margaret, I love hearing about stories of synchronicity. It is my greatest fascination in life, as I have found that such amazing things happen that seem ‘too good to be true’ or ‘stranger than fiction.’ I too am a writer, and my first 2 feature films are about the synchronicity I experienced over many years, yet I consider them non-fiction, even if they deal with multidimensional experiences. In time, I felt that what was ‘reality’ became a dream, and then dreams many dreams became a reality. Perfect how you connect the story about compassion and helping, as i believe those two priorities are often at the root of my profound experiences of synchronicity. You have inspired me out my writer’s block here, thank you. 🙂
Sometimes writing posts to my blog seems a waste of time, but when visitors such as you say that I’ve inspired you, well… then it inspires me to keep going. I would love to hear about your 2 feature films dealing with synchronicity. Is there a link where I can discover more?