Coincidences

There is a theory in life that there are no coincidences. Maybe so - maybe not. But, in any case, there must be at least two elements for a coincidence to occur - the events that are in conjunction with one another and an awareness of those events. While the first part may seem obvious, the second implies a consciousness of those elements - the ability to remember and see things in context, and an understanding of the relationship of those events. So, while you may be talking about a song with a friend, if you then heard that song on the radio, you would have to draw a connection for a coincidence to have occurred. Myriads of coincidental events may occur without us observing the glue - making the connection, to make those instances coincidental.

Of somewhat different note are what I think of as 'near coincidences'. If you and I are shopping at the grocery store and bump into one another, that may be a coincidence. If you and I are at that same store, but keep moving ahead in lockstep - an aisle apart from one another and we don't meet, we have a near coincidence. It is interesting to think of the number of times that we miss the astonishment of a coincidence - that other person is just an aisle away, but we never bump into them. How many times are there near coincidences? Who knows, but they must happen many more times than we are aware.