Over the Rainbow and through the Rabbit Hole

The day after my little 42 sync freakout, I went to out dinner with my best friend. We went to Blockheads, a NY chain that she introduced me to one of the first times I visited. It's Mexican and they have the best (strongest) $4 frozen margaritas. It was really good to see her. When we got the bill we saw the tip was already included (weird for only 2 people, but whatever,) and the tax. We ordered about the same amount of stuff so I suggested we simply split the amount in half. It was 24.40 each. She wanted to get back to her apartment ASAP and I rode with her. The cab was 12.40.

By then I'd mentally digested the recurring sync enough to kind of be used to it. The problem was the lack of context. When I talked to Mr. Green the night before, he suggested that I reflect back later because a pattern might emerge. He gave an example off the top of his head that it was something about Home, since that's when I always see it.

Well, I was on the way home from rehearsal yesterday, when I noticed for this mosaic mural for first time in the 50th St (1) station:

 

Uptown (1) to 242nd St Platform 

Mad Hatter and White Rabbit

and this:

There are 4 murals of Alice in Wonderland, down here in the underworld.

Downtown Platform to South Ferry

Oh! and I can't leave out that while I was taking photos, an old man was playing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on trombone. It probably didn't help that I've been reading Kevin Halcott's Sync Book chapter, which explores the aforementioned elements, along with the rainbow bridge. It'd fit with the Home theme, too, since Dorothy was just trying to get back to Kansas.

My White Rabbit and a Spring Sync Attack

This is Big Bunny Hopkins. He was a good guy. I usually revisit this photo at this time each year.


How was your first day of spring? I called up the Greens because I had a synch attack.

(If I had some sweet Photoshop skills I would display a person ducking from flying spiral sinks...)

Anyway, I was well-aware that it was the equinox and first day of spring because the Sync Book Press released its second book, Accidental Initiations: In The Kabbalistic Tree Of Olympia by Andras Jones. More info here - Happy Creatures or here - Accidental Initiations 2 I'm sure it's really interesting, and I'm excited to read it, once I finish The Sync Book.

The weather gods over NY were also aware of the season. It was 67, sunny and bright. I had worked the night before and was paid in part by this:

Can we just pause right here? I just want to say how crazy I feel already, simply by taking a photo of a $20 that somebody wrote "24" on. Who does that??

Okay so moving along. My plan for the day was to run a really important but frustrating errand (DMV uuuugh), then I was going to go home. I tried but it didn't work out and I wanted to take advantage of the pleasant weather instead of waiting in line for hours so I walked to Bryant Park, stopping only for mango yogurt gelato. I passed MegaMillions sign declaring the jackpot was up to $241 million. I read some Sync Book and chatted with one of my distant friends who happened to call then while basking in the sun's super lovely radiation. Ahhhhhhh yeah. It was nice.

Once the sun starting hiding behind skyscrapers, I went down to Union Square where there's a giant Barnes and Noble - I'd been meaning to buy a particular book for a friend for a while - and a Trader Joe's wine store. I was walking from the bathroom and right next to it I spotted a Mayan Prophecy pretty coffee table book in the bargain books section. I leafed through it, but no surprising or new info really popped up. At the December equinox this year their time system restarts. Things will shift in the world in certain ways at some point, spiritually and physically - kinda vague. I think one of my favorite bloggers, Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net (he writes about things like simplicity, being present), summed it up this way on New Year's day via twitter: "Predictions for 2012: Change."

I picked up Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus. I read it last year and I highly recommend this book to pretty much any human being, married or single or whatever. I wish I had read it 10 years ago. The more you know... ya know? I hadn't thought about the planetary reference in sync terms before, but it crossed my mind then. Thoughts?

 I was very hungry so I bought a giant pretzel off the street and the vendor called me his habibi. I felt super worldly knowing what that means. Then I bought $2.99 wine from Trader Joe's.

On the way home it got weird. I took the subway from where I was and transferred trains via 42nd Street as is often necessary, no big deal. I was on the (1) train, which I live off of. I noticed a girl that looked exactly like a friend I used to work with, and who I'd unexpectedly run into a few days before. I said her name a few times but it wasn't her. Then I noticed the individual car I was riding in had been labeled number 2413. Of course.

I decided to get off a stop early so that I could go to the best grocery store in the neighborhood. Stepping out of the car I looked up to see the hanging exit signs that direct you. This particular subway line, unlike most, has electronic boards hanging as well, that tell you how long you it will be until the next train arrives. The direction of the train is indicated by its endpoint. I glanced at the schedule board while looking for the exit and for the first time, after having ridden this train home essentially every night for 3 months, I realized that (1) ends at 242 St in the Bronx. It is heavy, but this was a major turning point in my perception of my perceptions. 

I made my way towards the store and noticed "124 Alex Deli" with a phone number ending in "0214." Curious on what I was supposed to do and feeling my gut/intuition tense/excited, I went to the deli. I didn't know why I was there so I asked for Junior Mints, my current favorite candy, especially when intoxicated. I get them at the deli near the corner by my apartment sometimes. This place didn't have any so I thought of something else I might be there for but they didn't have lotto tickets either. 

I was feeling strangely anxious at this point and kind of wondering what the deal was. I thought, "What are you trying to tell me?!" But all I got were a several more incidences of related number combinations. I was freaking out internally. Yes, you can "scientifically" explain this shift by saying that I was focusing my attention on finding 42s. But why at this particular point in time? And are there really always that many that I don't notice? Like when I walk around on the street every day - even earlier that day? I've never done a hallucinogenic drug but my change in perception/energy focus was similar to what I imagine such an experience to be like on a smaller scale. Or maybe a better comparison is to an anxiety attack, but somehow without the negativity? That's contradictory.

Finally it subsided as I continued walking. I was relieved but intrigued. I've had other syncs that I'd like to share but this one has come on so strong that I had to tell you about it.
Interpretations to come.

Good morning,
M.A.

Stand clear of the closing doors of perception, please

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Ask

A short time ago, I silently asked the universe a question, hoping for the answer to appear within the next few days or weeks, possibly to be interpreted through some symbolic medium.

"What am I supposed to be doing (with my life) right now?"

The immediate answer I received was a clear thought: Exactly what you are doing.

Cheers,
M.A.

Start Syncing

My introduction to synchronicity occurred with the history of psychology. I was a psych major in college, but somehow I had started studying it in high school. I suppose this came from feeling different. I liked reading books, was quiet, went to dance class, and was simply really good friends with a select few of my peers instead of whoring my way into controlling the HS social scene. Whatever the reason, I found myself research and stumbled upon Carl Jung and his mysterious ideas. The archetypes seemed pretty obvious once you thought about it. We chronicled them in 9th grade English class via Star Wars and The Odyssey. Synchronicity included those odd coincidences that happened to all of us without explanation. Everything has a dark side, and if you pretend it doesn't it will bite you in the ass. Okay. I didn't think too much more about sync until talking with the Greens and the release of the Sync Book and its Sync Event.

In January 2012 I started reading The Sync Book at Editor Green's apartment while taking care of the Greens' feisty cat. While proud and happy for my friend, I didn't spend too much mental energy on it other than feeling that it was cool and that I liked thinking about it more than I liked thinking about conspiracy theories. I participated in the Sync Event as an audience member and as the randomly chosen final Radio8Ball guest. Maybe in the future I'll delve into that, but suffice to say I was initiated into the sync family. Since then I've read the HappyCreatures blog posts, many the blogs it follows, and listened to some 42 Minutes radio shows.

The number 42? Had I even seen the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Nope. But after being notified of if its (perceived) significance, I noticed it, absolutely, strangely. Without cable or Netflix or a lot of expendable income, I don't watch too many television shows or movies, to be honest. True, I do live in NY, the city that never sleeps with its constant media barrage. But I'd always felt pretty skilled at hanging onto the thoughts I'd recognized as my own. Then the syncs started to hit.

I'm 24. My first home address was 204. My first NY 724... Okay, that's all mere coincidence...

I was walking to rehearsal a few days after the Sync Event, noting all of the street, building, and other printed media numbers. I started to feel a little ridiculous looking around for it so I mentally told myself, "Let it go, you are simply processing the past few days." I texted my director when I get to our rehearsal location, a very upscale building. A few of us practiced new choreography for an upcoming show, then went into the women's locker room for a costume fitting. Normally we would all just change in there but a naive nanny was oblivious to the fact that it wasn't appropriate for that old enough boy (seriously, he was like 10...) she was taking care of to be in there. Annoyed that I had to move, I grabbed my costume and went into the clean, pretty, spacious bathroom in this expensive building. I'm thinking about the show, the choreography, the music... But there it is, literally the writing on the wall: " 24" ." The only thing I've ever seen scrawled onto any surface of that building. Really? It was the last thing on my mind when I noticed it. I wondered if it meant that I am supposed to be doing what I'm doing in - living in NY and dancing.




I live in Manhattan. It is pretty f---ing expensive. Naturally, as I like to hang onto my money as long as possible, I found a good deal on a room here. The biggest problem with this room was that the ceiling leaked. Not when it rained, but somehow internally from the pipes above. I am on the 3rd floor, number 32. Guess what apartment directly above me it leaked from?


Okay, so Jupiter's number, blah blah blah, Kubrick, noticing when it is 2:04, 4:20, 7:24, 12:24, etc, Numbers stamped RIGHT OVER my name and address by FedEx (see photo)... it has to fade, right? Plenty of official psychological explanations for these phenomena - confirmation bias. It is now mid-March, and the 42s seem to have subsided. I'm on the phone telling my mom about my exciting night of dancing in a famous NYC landmark, barely even looking around me, when mid-sentence I stop upon noticing the giant orange "42" spray painted on the pavement. I paused, chuckled, and continued my story...