the magic of synchronicity
lana price, a cairn of stones, 2026, polaroid 600, 4.25" x 3.5"
Lately I’ve been asking myself, where is the magic? It’s September, and the vibe has definitely shifted. I was casually planting seeds all summer, and suddenly everything bloomed at once. And in the midst of a pretty full schedule, I’ve been craving more magic moments.
To clarify, I see “magic” as an all-encompassing word. If pragmatism is the realm where we control, plan, and analyze; then magic is the realm where we notice, receive, trust, and give form.
It’s where we remember there are unseen forces at play much larger than ourselves. Magic is where miracles happen, where enchantment and possibilities live.
when magic falls away
Here at Pragmagical Enterprises, we don’t see pragmatism and magic as opposites; rather, they are complementary, and even interdependent.
But admittedly, when things get busy, it’s the magic that falls away, and the brain -- with its control, planning, and analyzing -- takes full control.
What I’m looking for right now isn’t another practice, or a “should” to cram into a busy day. I’m looking for those moments that remind me the world is a magical place where anything can happen, beyond my wildest imagination.
One example of that is synchronicity. This is a type of magic that’s already there, we just have to notice it.
meaningful coincidences
Synchronicity is when an inner thought, fantasy, image or dream is matched by an event in outer reality, with no causal link between the two. Carl Jung developed the idea in the early 20th century. The connecting principle between the two events is meaning.
When I look back on my life, I experienced the most synchronicity when I was making honor portraits. At that time, I was working with people to honor a loved one who died through the process of making a painted portrait. It was inherently meaningful: it was grief work as a creative practice, and asked for a sacred, sustained attention on what mattered most, both to the person I was working with and to me.
amanda’s story
I was working with Amanda to make a portrait to honor her dad, who passed away eight years before. They had the same birthday, which was a special moment of shared celebration when he was alive, but became a reminder of loss after his death. During one Zoom call, we studied a photo of a young Amanda and her dad blowing out candles on their shared birthday cake.
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Amanda was reminded of how her dad would wear this distinctively salmon-pink shirt. It was one of his favorites. She told me how she wished she still had it, that she might’ve used the fabric to make a stuffed animal for her kids. Sadly, the shirt was long gone.
The next day, Amanda’s husband, Uri, came home, having gone shopping. He asked Amanda what she thought of his purchase, a shirt that was an unlikely color for him… salmon-pink.
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Synchronicity can feel like a form of call and response. When we put out a call, a signal of our wishes and desires, sometimes we receive a signal back. Amanda and I had focused our attention on looking at the birthday photo, remembering her dad, and wishing for this reminder of him. When I saw the photo of Uri’s shirt, it felt like the loving attention and energy we were emitting was being reflected back to us. It was a beautiful thing to witness.
I thought to myself: we are all connected.
science says
Psychologists explain synchronicity as a combination of confirmation bias, probability, and pattern-detection. Our brains are wired to find patterns, even in noise. We remember the hits and forget the misses.
To that I say, no problem! This feels like a good use of our brains, to look for the patterns between our inner state and an outer event and weave them into a coherent story. I don’t need to settle whether the universe is winking at me or my brain is doing what brains do. Maybe it’s both! The experience is real either way, and so is what I do with it.
Because ultimately synchronicity is a mirror. The external event may be something very ordinary, but the sense of alignment is not.
Synchronicity is magical because it’s that combination of emotional relevance, surprise, and timing that creates a sense of depth and wonder. In order to capture it, we have to have some awareness of the things within us that are meaningful, that are moving or shifting, and the outer event gives us a symbolic way to notice it.
This is totally Pragmagical: synchronicity is the meeting of the mind with meaning.
how to have more synchronicity
So how do we get more magic moments in our lives? Well, I’m trying out a li’l practice I call “tune in and turn on.” This isn’t an additional thing to do, it’s more like a two-second shift that can happen in the middle of something I’m already doing, usually walking.
Tuning in is about paying attention to the inner life. For me, it’s almost like a mini-meditation. I might even say to myself “tune in!” as a way to get out of the trance of the monkey mind (that nonstop train of restless, distracted, uncontrolled thoughts) and try to focus on one thing and/or check in with how I feel.
Then turning on is about being open and paying attention to the surroundings. I think of a NYC yellow cab: when its roof light is lit, that means it’s open for customers. We can also turn on the light, and say we’re open to signs, symbols, and messages. Then use that lovely brain and employ those pattern-detection skills we’ve had since the caveman days to scan for coincidences.
When a coincidence hits, we’ll know if it’s synchronicity if it has an element of surprise and delight. And we get to decide if it feels meaningful. In this decision point, we are exercising our agency, and participating in an act of co-creation between ourselves and the broader universe. The universe supplies the coincidence -- we supply the meaning.
For me, whenever I experience synchronicity, it gives me a boost of confidence. I interpret it as a sign I’m in the right place at the right time. And then I wonder, what is the next small step? The universe may offer the nudge, but I’m still the one on this earthly plane who takes responsibility for what I do next.
I <3 magic
Last week I was going for a walk, and my mind was jibber-jabbering as it tends to do. I tuned in to focus. I was thinking about this essay, and my desire for magic. I reminded myself that I needed to pay more attention. In that moment, I looked up, and high up on the street post saw this sign:
I’ll take it :)
Have you ever had a moment of synchronicity that moved you? Please reply and let me know, I’d love to hear it.
(And if you liked this, you might like my companion piece on super-encounterers and generating serendipity.)
i'm lana price and this is my biweekly-ish newsletter. i write about navigating life transitions, bridging practicality and possibility. you can find other writing here. subscribe to get these straight to your inbox.
