Synchronicity, Serendipity and Grace

ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA...

• SYNCHRONICITY is a word coined by the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung to describe the "temporally coincident occurrences of acausal events." Jung spoke of synchronicity as an "acausal connecting principle" (i.e., a pattern of connection that cannot be explained by direct causality). Plainly put, it is the experience of having two (or more) things happen simultaneously in a manner that is meaningful to the person or persons experiencing them, where that meaning suggests an underlying pattern. It differs from coincidence in that synchronicity implies not just a happenstance, but an underlying pattern or dynamic that is being expressed through meaningful relationships or events.
• SERENDIPITY noun to make discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things not in quest of.
• GRACE noun unearned favors or mercy received from God

ACCORDING TO ME...

• Mom clipped an article entitled Lost and Found by Rica Bolipata-Santos where she wrote about a yellow paperclip she lost as a child. What a coincidence, I thought.
• I was intrigued. I also couldn't shut out the little voice inside, telling me to get in touch with her. I decided to send her an email, offering to send her a copy of my book so she can "find" her yellow paperclip and relive it in a new colorful way.
• An excited email exchange follows. I sent her a copy of my book to her, and she promised to send me hers.
• I watched a Bukas Palad concert in Ateneo and decided to buy their CDs. As soon as I scan the list of BP members, a name stood out: Rica Bolipata-Santos.
• I received a copy of her book one day at work and I drink it all in in a couple of bedside reading sessions. She writes about love, children, writing, her relationship with her mother. I love her stories and how I feel like I am less alone when reading them. I like how I can almost hear her voice even if I've never heard what she sounds like. I like how even if I've never met her, I feel like I have.
  
• On the front cover of her book, she wrote: Dearest Nikki, Here's to synchronicity, serendipity, grace. Love, Rica.
• I look forward to the day we meet.