Synchronicity Example : Back to Piano

Apr 29, 2019 / Music - Piano / synchronicity / how to be creative

I’ve been thinking about how I got back into piano after 35 years of not playing.

I attribute it to synchronicity.

I was getting lunch at the cafeteria at my day job, and I bumped into a colleague as I was waiting in line to pay.

“Do you want to have lunch together?”

I said, “sure, let’s do it.”

This was very unusual for a number of reasons. I normally eat lunch at my desk. My colleague was visiting from Moscow, so normally, I wouldn’t run into her.

We talked about what we were up to at work and then moved on to other topics.

My colleague mentioned that she usually gets home late from work but ensures that she plays the piano to unwind from the long day.

I then thought, “I could do that. I could take up the piano again.”

That’s all it took to awaken my forgotten dream of playing the piano.

Synchronicity As Mentor

I’m a big fan of Carl Jung’s concept of synchronicity as evidenced by these 2016 journal entries: Example of Synchronicity and Archetype of Wholeness. I love it when synchronicity happens. It’s life suggesting a future path that you didn’t consider.

It’s like having a mentor.

If you’re not lucky enough to have a mentor (I never did), it occurred to me that synchronicity could be a mentor. Of course, it is still up to you to act on the advice or not.

Going Back to Piano Playing

So I acted on that advice. I bought a piano.

Now, I intersperse my art studio time with playing the piano. I’m enjoying it, 1.5 months in. It was a good decision. It’s tough though. I’m starting from the beginning. I completed my first simple piece: Minuet in A Minor by Henry Purcell.

I’ve decided to document my piano progress in this journal. When I look backward many years from now, I want to be able to see how this adventure affected my art journey, which apparently now includes music.

I started playing the piano again after a 35-year absence. It’s all because of that coincidence in the cafeteria.

What about you? Have there been coincidences, synchronicity moments, or accidents that suggested some future path?

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