I’m sure you’ve heard people talking about serendipity and synchronicity before, but where did the terms come from, and what do they mean? We have already talked about serendipity (see the blog post, What’s the Meaning of Serendipity, and can you Plan it?). It’s always good to have an understanding of common concepts, and know where they came from, which adds context to their meanings.
Recap: The Meaning of Serendipity
Horace Walpole, English art historian and politician born in the early 18th century coined the word serendipity. Walpole who loved to write letters was also known as man of letters. In a letter to Thomas Mann, he said that he coined the word serendipity from the Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip. In the tale, the heroes “were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of.”
The Meaning of Synchronicity
The word synchronicity was coined by Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (Wisdom Wednesdays: Carl Gustav Jung, a Founder of Modern Psychology). According to Wikipedia, “Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance and that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner.” Synchronicity is meaningful or significant coincidences.
We have all had coincidences happen to us, and that’s synchronicity. Recently, I was thinking about someone who I had lost touch with, and was wondering how she was doing. A week later, she contacted me through LinkedIn and wanted to reconnect and have coffee. That’s an example of synchronicity.
Instead of reinventing the wheel, I have curated some content on synchronicity for you to read when you have some time.
Curated Content on Synchronicity for Further Reading
Deepak Chopra Chance or Synchronicity (video)
Synchronicity, Joseph Jaworski: I read this book about seven years ago and found it to be a very good book.
Synchronicity is the Key to Destiny, By Frank Joseph/Source: New Dawn Magazine: This article will take about 10 minutes to read. It’s more a “new agey” type of article and covers 17 types of synchronicity. It’s an interesting read.
Get Lucky: How to Put Planned Serendipity to Work for You and Your Business
Synchronicity: The Inner Path of LeadershipSynchronicitySynchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle. (From Vol. 8. of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung) (Jung Extracts)The Synchronicity Key: The Hidden Intelligence Guiding the Universe and You