How Synchronicity And Jung Appear In The Creative Process

How Synchronicity And Jung Appear In The Creative Process

I was editing a passage in my novel CONDUCT IN QUESTION, the first in THE OSGOODE TRILOGY. The villainous Florist was about to march down the stairs to kill the young man, Donnie, hiding in the cloakroom. The boy had soaked the stair carpet with gasoline and was about to set it on fire. Would that, I debated, cause the impressive explosion of flames I had described? Who could give me advice on pyrotechnics? Moments later, when the doorbell rang, I was stunned to find two firemen on my doorstep. Once I had convinced them of my innocent intent, they told me the stairwell would certainly “blow up real good.”

And that is synchronicity! Which we’ve all experienced in our lives. Remember the time you were thinking for days of a long lost friend and then suddenly he appeared at your door? Such experiences take our breath away and make us think we are all connected in some warm cosmic soup!

But what is synchronicity? Of course, it’s a coincidence, which is meaningful to you, the person whose breath is stolen away. It can’t be explained by cause and effect. As far as anyone knows, you (or someone else) didn’t do anything to cause the event. What coincides? My psychic state (wondering how to test out the blaze without actually setting one) and the event (the arrival of the perfect people to answer my question).

Carl Jung (the Swiss psychiatrist) is the ‘father’ of synchronicity, in that he experienced, studied and developed theories about it. One of his female patients had a highly rationalistic attitude toward life and was consequently resistant to much psychotherapy. As she was recounting a strange dream about receiving a golden scarab (a costly piece of gold jewelry) there was a persistent tapping on the window behind Jung. Opening the window, the doctor reached out and brought in a large scarab beetle. The appearance of the ‘real’ beetle at the very moment she was recounting her dream punctured her rational, intellectual approach to life and permitted her to carry on successfully with her therapy.

Some people think synchronicity operates throughout the universe as a grand ‘cosmic force.’ Have you seen the new movie by Mel Gibson, Apocalypto? In the Mayan culture, it was understood that vast synchronistic forces governed the universe and were related to the motion of the planets, stars and galaxies. Does this seem far-fetched in our ‘modern’ times? Certainly not! In the book, Cosmos and Psyche, by Richard Tarnas, published in 2006, synchronicity and the influence of the planets are impressively linked.

My experience and fascination with synchronicity caused me to devise two stunningly ‘coincidental’ events in my novel, FINAL PARADOX, which is the second in THE OSGOODE TRILOGY. Harry Jenkins, the protagonist, is an estates lawyer in Toronto, Canada. For years, Harry and his father have been estranged. When his sister died at the age of twelve, Harry’s father, crippled with grief, withdrew almost completely from the family. And Harry, now in his late forties and childless, cannot understand how the loss of his sister could have so horribly affected his father. Now his father lies near death in hospital. Harry is in the Quiet Room of the hospital, mourning the lost years between them and wishing he knew how to pray. Suddenly a woman and her husband enter the room. Hysterical with grief over the murder of her son, the woman screams and curses until, finally, a doctor sedates her. Immediately, Harry understands the wrenching agony of the loss of a child. At the very moment of his asking, he has the answer. Harry is transformed by the sense of deep connection to forces he only dimly perceives.

So, how do such events actually happen? A study of quantum physics leads us to believe that our distinction between our inner and outer world is illusory and that we do, in fact, swim in a cosmic soup in which there is no distinction between the soup and us. And so, our psychic energy may really influence or ‘cause’ events in the ‘outer’ world. Consequently, in a moment highly charged with concentrated emotion, Harry Jenkins asks for and receive his answer in a most dramatic fashion.

BONUS : How To Be A Good Spokesman

A battle is won when a leader is successful. We can find a large number of examples in World history. Today we can also see that the statement is quite true. There will never be a result if the lead is taken by a weak personality who doesn’t know the meaning of the word “leadership”. Nowadays people elect their leaders considering their qualities and thinking about the result of their choice. People usually prefer a strong-willed, intelligent, active, ambitious person to be their leader and perform different duties. There is no other way to show these traits but to express them orally or on the paper to be forwarded to voters. Once being elected you must know how to express the point of view of others and to represent their interests properly. To do the above-mentioned you have to be a nice orator and easily hold the attention of a crowd. To be a good leader you are to be politically literate. There is nothing in this life that could do without politics and this is a well-known fact. Becoming a part of the governmental system you are to represent the ideas of those who had voted for you. To be successful in this field you are to be rather persuasive and very industrious in proving your idea.

If to break a word “spokesman” apart, we get “spokes” which is, without doubt related to the verb “to speak” and “man” that identifies a person who speaks. The definition is – a man who expresses an opinion. One has to be really talented, even gifted to achieve a proper result by expressing his point of view and trying to persuade others that your statements are true. The task of a spokesman is not only to speak out in public, but to prepare the basic information on what you consider to be right and to distribute it among the voters for them to get a general idea. This is where you’ll need the skills to write a persuasive essay. The main tasks of the essay you write is to persuade voters that your idea, opinion or any other statement that you venture to express is worth voting for and sticking to. For doing this you need to structure it right and know some of the ways to highlight the main idea. You make up a couple of statements that show the main idea and build an essay around, using as many facts to support as it is only possible. The more persuasive essays you write, the more experienced you become in convincing others. There have to be no contradictions to your own words and certainly no lies. It is pretty easy to check if the fact that you use is true. And if it’s not, it is not going to give you a bonus in your voters’ eyes.

It is also necessary to avoid strong verbs, though it is possible if you use the so called “shock therapy”, so popular among some leaders to catch a person unawares and make him think your way. Though it is considered to be wrong to make somebody change one’s lifestyle, playing with his/her thoughts and ways of thinking, spokesmen usually use this technique to be sure of the effect of their creation. It is so easy to play around with basic needs of people and the way they can be satisfied. It also can be used in your persuasive essay. After considering some of the facts, we can see that to be a leader and a spokesman one has to possess a lot of skills. And one more important thing, except unique talent in writing and being an orator; a good spokesman will never betray the hope of those who ventured to vote for you.