Photo: Break Free by Sagar Patil, licensed under Unsplash License.
I’ve never really counted days in this manner until two days ago. As I was reflecting on ways to make this blog more personal to me, the idea of representing dates relative to my birthdate came up. To my surprise, I found out it was my 12,998th day alive!
I understand coincidences are, by definition, events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have a connection. And that how interesting this coincidence is, differs greatly from person to person, as it depends on each’s perception of how they see these events being connected.
From a probabilistic standpoint, even attempting to estimate the likelihood of such coincidence would be challenging. Still, I suspect it’s not as rare as it feels to me.
The decision to write such a personal blog and to use this uncommon date system - something I hadn’t seen elsewhere - unexpectedly highlighted the approach of my 13,000th day. I find this serendipity a delightful revelation.
Doing some research I’ve discovered a concept called synchronicity, by Carl Jung, that describes exactly the meaningful coincidence of two or more events that aren’t causally related, yet seem to be meaningfully connected.
In a reflection, I often lean towards a more probabilistic approach when considering coincidences, but that shouldn’t detract me from their potential personal significance or the richness they may add to my life.
In the end, the significance I attribute to such coincidences is mine alone. Today, I choose to celebrate my 13,000th day and embrace this as yet another demonstration that life’s unpredictability can also be delightful.
Here’s to my next 13,000 days!
PS: Gotta love the human mind tendency of pattern-seeking!