Sometimes there is a turn of events that grabs our attention, causes us to stop and think: “Wow … what a coincidence.”  We can all recount examples – and we usually vie with each other to give the most remarkable!

I experienced this very feeling when, on the eve of the IBTC’s Open Day, I let that anthology of poetry, fall open at a random page, only to find Judy Brown’s poem “Wooden Boats.”  It gave me a feeling of assurance, affirmation … that this venture was ”right.”

Having taken the decision to resign my Partnership, quit mainstream General Practice – if not primary care altogether – and to train to become a boatbuilder, I thought I would write a Blog about it all. In particular, I felt a compulsion to share the coincidence of reading “Wooden Boats” that evening.

Recognising the need to seek an author’s permission to use their work, so as not to breach their copywrite, I sent Judy Brown a request to add a hyperlink to her website (judysorumbrown.com) or to quote her poem in my blog.  Judy kindly replied, giving me permission to do either.

In her email Judy replied: “I was delighted to get your note, to know a bit about this season of transition that is opening for you.  And to understand why “Wooden Boats” seemed to represent a confirming synchronicity.   Deepak Chopra in an early book said that such synchronicity is an indication that we are on path, and that we are seeing the underlying web of connections in life—connections that we are often too busy to notice.” 

I don’t know about you, whether you hold to fate, destiny, pre-ordination or have a faith in divine intervention.  Judy refers to these events as “synchronicity,” and I do like the idea that we can be so tied up in what we are doing that we do not see the links to things around us.  Certainly, my work, and the very pressure of work within the Practice, subsumed my thoughts, my energy … my life.  How could I have seen any other links or perceived any other threads?

Coincidence or synchronicity, chance or fate, happenstance or destiny, random events or divine plan … I don’t know, but it’s food for thought for sure.