You may recall that a few days ago I ended a post with the comment ‘…as Punch would have said.’ Ever since then Mr Punch seems to crop up everywhere I go. Yesterday CJ and I went to Port Sunlight and in the Museum Shop what was one of the first things I noticed? A postcard with Mr Punch on it. Now it is, of course, true that the postcard would have been there even if Mr Punch hadn’t raised his head in my consciousness and because I had him in my mind I’ve little doubt that is why he suddenly seems, by coincidence, to be appearing wherever I look. We have Murphy’s law for things that, if they go wrong, they will. Is there a name for this law? Am I the only person to whom it seems to happen time and again? Surely not.
Synchronicity?
ReplyDeleteIs there a prize for the right word?
Not sure about the best name for it (Pauline may win the prize) but I do agree the phenomenon has to do with what I'd call "conscious awareness" - much like what you say: once a thought or memory is brought up to the "surface" of our mind for some reason, while it is still there, we are also more likely to notice other things related to it.
ReplyDeleteYes I think it would count as synchronicity (which I have to admit I had not thought of)but is that a law? Still I think it takes the prize so far.
ReplyDeleteYes, Monica, I think it is conscious awareness too in that all those things would have been there whether or not I had happened to be interested but they would not have had a connection.
ReplyDeleteYes. Then there is of course also the metaphysical question whether YOU would have been there... ;)
ReplyDeleteI was also pondering the word 'serendipity' which as I understand it is about discovering one thing while really looking for something else. Considering the aspect that you went to that garden centre expecting one thing and then found another. And not really going to the Museum Shop to look for Mr Punch either...
Sorry. Seems I'm in a philosophical mood tonight!
I've always called it Albert's Law after Albert Wilson, my Latin master, who said that as soon as you learned a new word it would suddenly appear in the next few things you read. It applies to so many things in life.
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