Coincidence or Something Else?

[SalixIncendium]

I was going to put this little story in Journals, but I reconsidered after thinking it might bring some good discussion or debate.

For those of you who don't already know, I lost a daughter to cancer 13 years ago, which will help you better understand what I'm about to say.

My morning routine upon waking is brushing my teeth, taking care of any calls of nature, showering, and immediately meditating.

During this morning's meditation, a few of my daughter's last words came through to me, specifically the words, "It's so beautiful!" As you could image, this opened a bit of a floodgate. The emotions passed and I returned to my usual meditative state.

Fast forward a few hours, and I happened to glance at today's date on the lower right hand corner of my laptop. 12/11. Today would have been my daughter's 35th birthday. I was entirely ignorant of the date today until that time.

I don't often think of the day my daughter passed, and rarely, if ever, during meditation. Usually memories surround other parts of her life.

So I ask you, denizens of RF, do you think there is something more to this than mere coincidence? Why or why not?

 

[Heyo]

I was going to put this little story in Journals, but I reconsidered after thinking it might bring some good discussion or debate.

For those of you who don't already know, I lost a daughter to cancer 13 years ago, which will help you better understand what I'm about to say.

My morning routine upon waking is brushing my teeth, taking care of any calls of nature, showering, and immediately meditating.

During this morning's meditation, a few of my daughter's last words came through to me, specifically the words, "It's so beautiful!" As you could image, this opened a bit of a floodgate. The emotions passed and I returned to my usual meditative state.

Fast forward a few hours, and I happened to glance at today's date on the lower right hand corner of my laptop. 12/11. Today would have been my daughter's 35th birthday. I was entirely ignorant of the date today until that time.

I don't often think of the day my daughter passed, and rarely, if ever, during meditation. Usually memories surround other parts of her life.

So I ask you, denizens of RF, do you think there is something more to this than mere coincidence? Why or why not?

Not coincidence but your unconscious "knowing" about the date even so your consciousness wasn't aware of it.

 

[Kenny]

I was going to put this little story in Journals, but I reconsidered after thinking it might bring some good discussion or debate.

For those of you who don't already know, I lost a daughter to cancer 13 years ago, which will help you better understand what I'm about to say.

My morning routine upon waking is brushing my teeth, taking care of any calls of nature, showering, and immediately meditating.

During this morning's meditation, a few of my daughter's last words came through to me, specifically the words, "It's so beautiful!" As you could image, this opened a bit of a floodgate. The emotions passed and I returned to my usual meditative state.

Fast forward a few hours, and I happened to glance at today's date on the lower right hand corner of my laptop. 12/11. Today would have been my daughter's 35th birthday. I was entirely ignorant of the date today until that time.

I don't often think of the day my daughter passed, and rarely, if ever, during meditation. Usually memories surround other parts of her life.

So I ask you, denizens of RF, do you think there is something more to this than mere coincidence? Why or why not?

I cannot imagine the pain of the moment and the difficulty of your journey.

I don't think it is a coincidence but rather God saying in a subliminal way, "She is with me--and she loves it!" My 2 cents.

 

[Vinayaka]

I was going to put this little story in Journals, but I reconsidered after thinking it might bring some good discussion or debate.

For those of you who don't already know, I lost a daughter to cancer 13 years ago, which will help you better understand what I'm about to say.

My morning routine upon waking is brushing my teeth, taking care of any calls of nature, showering, and immediately meditating.

During this morning's meditation, a few of my daughter's last words came through to me, specifically the words, "It's so beautiful!" As you could image, this opened a bit of a floodgate. The emotions passed and I returned to my usual meditative state.

Fast forward a few hours, and I happened to glance at today's date on the lower right hand corner of my laptop. 12/11. Today would have been my daughter's 35th birthday. I was entirely ignorant of the date today until that time.

I don't often think of the day my daughter passed, and rarely, if ever, during meditation. Usually memories surround other parts of her life.

So I ask you, denizens of RF, do you think there is something more to this than mere coincidence? Why or why not?

Yes. It came unbidden.

 

[ChristineM]

I was going to put this little story in Journals, but I reconsidered after thinking it might bring some good discussion or debate.

For those of you who don't already know, I lost a daughter to cancer 13 years ago, which will help you better understand what I'm about to say.

My morning routine upon waking is brushing my teeth, taking care of any calls of nature, showering, and immediately meditating.

During this morning's meditation, a few of my daughter's last words came through to me, specifically the words, "It's so beautiful!" As you could image, this opened a bit of a floodgate. The emotions passed and I returned to my usual meditative state.

Fast forward a few hours, and I happened to glance at today's date on the lower right hand corner of my laptop. 12/11. Today would have been my daughter's 35th birthday. I was entirely ignorant of the date today until that time.

I don't often think of the day my daughter passed, and rarely, if ever, during meditation. Usually memories surround other parts of her life.

So I ask you, denizens of RF, do you think there is something more to this than mere coincidence? Why or why not?

I think your unconscious bought the words to the front at a time you mind was receptive.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I think your unconscious bought the words to the front at a time you mind was receptive.

My mind is in such a state each day. Why do you think this took place on her birthday of all days, when I had no idea what the date was?

 

[Sunstone]

Not coincidence but your unconscious "knowing" about the date even so your consciousness wasn't aware of it.

I suspect @Heyo nailed it, @SalixIncendium.

 

[Vinayaka]

I have no need to convince anybody of anything, but my interpretation, as a strong believer in reincarnation, would be that she's (the soul, not the personality) messaging you from the astral, and she's still there, but probably wishing to move on. For the vast majority, getting a new body happens between 0 to 12 years. Very young souls, or those who don't understand can leave on one end of the hospital, and come back at the other end, as both exit, and enter happen at the same place.

Traditional Hindus in my tradition celebrate the death anniversary for up to 12 years, but not usually longer, once they sense a new body has been found. Given her age, I'm guessing you and she were close. Hindus who haven't been corrupted or influenced by western grieving systems celebrate death, and hope for the loved ones to move on. I have a cousin who lost his daughter in a car accident. She's still around, and he's still not over it, 25 years later.

"Let go the rope' as they say, but it seems like you have. It's she that hasn't. If you know (and like) somebody who's pregnant, go hang out with them. That is a way of telling her you're okay with it.
Best wishes.

 

[Sunstone]

Coincidences raise quite a few questions, don't they @SalixIncendium? While it's possible to dismiss any apparent coincidence as "mere coincidence" and "within the possibility of being a random occurrence", I'm not so sure it's a good idea to do so. I'm inclined to think that were we to explain certain coincidences (not all of them, but only certain ones), they would reveal aspects of nature we have not yet an inkling of.

To illustrate, a couple hundred years ago, who could have known that explaining "St. Elmo's Fire" would help to reveal the nature of plasma. At the time, plasma wasn't even a concept, and no one -- no one! -- suspected that there was a fourth state of matter beyond liquid, solid, and gas. But there it was -- right before our eyes in the form of St. Elmo's Fire" (along with other manifestations of plasma), just waiting for the necessary prerequisites to explore it.

Maybe, my friend, coincidences are like plasma -- our door to new wonders.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Not coincidence but your unconscious "knowing" about the date even so your consciousness wasn't aware of it.

I suspect @Heyo nailed it, @SalixIncendium.

How do you suspect my unconscious "knew" when I was completely unaware of what the date was when this hit me (since I've been off work I haven't been paying much attention to the date, let alone the day of the week)? Also, when I did finally see the date, it took a moment for it to register that it was, indeed, my daughter's birthday? I can probably buy that 12/11 is ingrained in my unconscious, but my unconscious would have been having to track the last several days without having looked at a calendar.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I don't recall exactly what time theory (quantum mechanics perhaps?) explains that time only appears as linear, and the that past, present, and future are illusory; that everything that has happening, is happening, or will happen, is in a perpetual state of occurring/existing.

Perhaps there is a means in which such a state can be perceived/attained?

 

[Sunstone]

A few decades ago, I was thumbing through my wife's Victoria's Secrets catalog when I was stopped in my tracks by the look in one of the model's eyes. I spent a few minutes starring at her, almost in a trance, trying to figure out what that look meant, and why it mattered so much to me. Eventually, I snapped out of it and went on with my thumbing through the rest of the catalog.

Four or so years later, I was standing outside Colorado Spring's most popular coffee shop one evening -- the crowd had overflowed onto the sidewalk. Suddenly, a tiny white sports car dashed into a parking space thirty or forty feet in front of me. It was moving so fast, I thought it would collide with something, but the driver knew what they were doing and managed to bring it to a stop before an accident occurred.

The top was down, the driver stood up in the car's seat and jumped over the door in order to exit their car. And then she strutted -- 'strutted' is the only correct word here -- straight up to me. How or why she picked me out of a crowd of over a hundred people I was never to learn. But she did. Without looking right or left, she came straight to me, stopped, and asked me a question about the coffee shop.

It was the Victoria's Secrets model.

Within a few months, we were hanging out with each other on an almost daily basis.

 

[Sunstone]

How do you suspect my unconscious "knew" when I was completely unaware of what the date was when this hit me (since I've been off work I haven't been paying much attention to the date, let alone the day of the week)? Also, when I did finally see the date, it took a moment for it to register that it was, indeed, my daughter's birthday? I can probably buy that 12/11 is ingrained in my unconscious, but my unconscious would have been having to track the last several days without having looked at a calendar.

Several -- not one, but several -- internal clocks have been discovered in humans. Our bodies keep track of time in several ways. Some of the clocks measure tiny intervals akin to seconds. Others measure seasons. And still others measure other intervals.

You know the sense or feel you have of a week ago being longer than a day ago? You have that sense or feel because you have a clock inside you measuring time.

 

[Sunstone]

I don't recall exactly what time theory (quantum mechanics perhaps?) explains that time only appears as linear, and the that past, present, and future are illusory; that everything that has happen, is happening, or will happening, is in a perpetual state of occurring/existing.

Perhaps there is a means in which such a state can be perceived/attained?

I'd have to dig out my notes, but @Polymath257 and I exchanged some PMs on that subject a year or so ago. I think he'd be able to answer your question -- or at least give you a good lead towards answering. @Mr Spinkles is likely to know something about it, too. And I'm guessing @Heyo as well.

 

[ChristineM]

My mind is in such a state each day. Why do you think this took place on her birthday of all days, when I had no idea what the date was?

I can only speculate. Subconsciously you could have been aware of the date. Your phone will have the date on the display and your subconscious noticed it. A newspaper. Does your alarm wake you by playing a radio station that mentioned the date before you were fully awake. Maybe a few days ago you noticed the date and your mind has been quietly counting the days.

The loss of a child will remain deep in memory, there are numerous triggers that could have brought the memory forward.

I have encountered similarity. A few years ago, one-day i was very jumpy, a car door closed id jump, a dog bark, id catch my breath. Someone shouted a friend across the street, i panicked looking every which way for danger. Only in the evening when i was watching the news did i realise it was the anniversary of the ira Manchester bombing. I had not remembered the date for several years.

 

[Secret Chief]

a perpetual state of occurring/existing

I agree.

Perhaps there is a means in which such a state can be perceived/attained?

No means required to attain; simply your perception that the universe always just is.

 

[oldbadger]

I was going to put this little story in Journals, but I reconsidered after thinking it might bring some good discussion or debate.

For those of you who don't already know, I lost a daughter to cancer 13 years ago, which will help you better understand what I'm about to say.

My morning routine upon waking is brushing my teeth, taking care of any calls of nature, showering, and immediately meditating.

During this morning's meditation, a few of my daughter's last words came through to me, specifically the words, "It's so beautiful!" As you could image, this opened a bit of a floodgate. The emotions passed and I returned to my usual meditative state.

Fast forward a few hours, and I happened to glance at today's date on the lower right hand corner of my laptop. 12/11. Today would have been my daughter's 35th birthday. I was entirely ignorant of the date today until that time.

I don't often think of the day my daughter passed, and rarely, if ever, during meditation. Usually memories surround other parts of her life.

So I ask you, denizens of RF, do you think there is something more to this than mere coincidence? Why or why not?

Yes. Something more...
And I'm sad to read about the loss of your daughter.

 

[Audie]

How do you suspect my unconscious "knew" when I was completely unaware of what the date was when this hit me (since I've been off work I haven't been paying much attention to the date, let alone the day of the week)? Also, when I did finally see the date, it took a moment for it to register that it was, indeed, my daughter's birthday? I can probably buy that 12/11 is ingrained in my unconscious, but my unconscious would have been having to track the last several days without having looked at a calendar.

You may have had an experience such as solving
a math problem in your dream, or realizing a mistake
you'd made in some calculation.

Your mention of daughtrrs death hit me hard,
my mom havjng died recently-and the terrible
pang of what I almost did to her when I stood
on our balcony 17 floors from the sidewalk,
planning to jump.

Not to make this about me, but to express a
deep sympathy for your loss, what you have
gone through.

 

[Heyo]

How do you suspect my unconscious "knew" when I was completely unaware of what the date was when this hit me (since I've been off work I haven't been paying much attention to the date, let alone the day of the week)? Also, when I did finally see the date, it took a moment for it to register that it was, indeed, my daughter's birthday? I can probably buy that 12/11 is ingrained in my unconscious, but my unconscious would have been having to track the last several days without having looked at a calendar.

Your unconscious knows everything - you just can't be conscious of all your knowledge at one time. And, as Sunstone pointed out, your unconscious also keeps track of time, sometimes very precise. How long do you meditate? How do you know when time is up? Do you write grocery lists? If not, how do you remember when you're not aware of it all the time?

 

[SalixIncendium]

How long do you meditate?

Typically 25-45 minutes. Occasionally a bit shorter or longer.

How do you know when time is up?

When I come back to a waking awareness.

Do you write grocery lists?

Not consistently, but if I don't, I usually come home with about half of what I needed or a vital ingredient missing for what I planned on making. Most recently, I wanted grilled cheese and came home without the bread.

If not, how do you remember when you're not aware of it all the time?

More times than not, I don't. It's become worse as I've gotten older. I lose my words that I used to use quite frequently. I never had a great short-term memory, and it diminishes with time.