Synchronicity

I must say that I was rather disappointed in Joan Blades’ presentation. I was under the assumption that she would share information that was included in her books. I also thought that there would be an enriching dialogue about current work trends, women’s rights in the workplace, and information about increasing career satisfaction. Instead, Joan focused on the premise of Living Room Conversations and what the structure of this new project entailed.  I was not really sure the goal of Living Room Conversations. I can understand that open conversation is needed about pressing topics but my questions remains how does this open dialogue move towards action or political reforms. Mutual respect between conflicting parties is a great start, however this is being done at a community level and not a national level where the communication needs to be occurring. I did like how Living Room Conversations have been used in the mental health field between multiple agencies and the family of the identified client. This reminds me of family based services or wrap around services for children and adolescents.

In Guindon and Hanna’s (2002) article, the definition of synchronicity and the use of synchronicity in counseling is discussed. This concept of “meaningful coincidences” reminds me of Chaos theory (Guidon & Hanna, 2002, p. 195). A central principle of Chaos theory is that everything is connected and that individuals or careers form open systems and are fractals of a larger system (Brown, 2012). When looking at Chaos theory, synchronicity cannot then be considered coincidence but rather an effect of interacting systems. This effect would be nonlinear and would interact microscopically to form what we see.

I have a hard time accepting the three ways synchronicity is shown. I especially do not like the emphasis on dreams or the unconscious. I think I have a hard time placing an importance on dreams for several reasons. First, connecting real life events to dreams reminds me of soothsaying and superstition. I am not superstitious and I do not believe there is a higher power so my cognitive bias automatically discredits this notion. Second, I have not heard so far throughout my college career that dreams have any relevance to real life happenings. I prefer scientific proof to collaborate phenomena or theories.

Guidon and Hanna (2012) gave case studies that illustrate synchronicity in a positive way that augments the current career process. However, what if a synchronistic event is negative? For example, an individual has a dream that symbolizes a catastrophe and a few days later he/she is fired. The event is considered “meaningful” to the person because he/she can no longer pay for necessities. I can see a client becoming stuck or discouraged if they start thinking that they are powerless against outside forces or chance events.

Brown, D. (2012). Learning Theory-Based, Postmodern, Socioeconomic, and Decision-Making Theories and Their Applications. In Career Information, Career Counseling, and Career Development (10th ed., pp. 59-79). New York: Pearson Education, Inc. 

Guindon, M. H., & Hanna, F. J. (2002). Coincidence, Happenstance, Serendipity, Fate or the Hand of God: Case Studies in Synchronicity. The Career Development Quarterly, 50, 195-208.