Is synchronicity the same as magic?
One of the pillars of mental well-being is to appreciate meaning and purpose in our life, which is where synchronicty can take centre-stage. To feel that whatever happens to us is not random but, in the grand scheme of things, truly matters and is meant to be.
That’s not to say that when we discovered meaning and purpose, we can always expect Life to be upbeat and jolly. My own experience of Life is more like a wild unpredictable sea than a paddling pool. But when I have found my way to connect to the intelligent Universe, I hotline a power and reasoning greater than my own and I feel better equipped to negotiate my way through the storms with greater equanimity.
The consensus view is that the global experience is chaotic, disturbing and full of human suffering. All the more reason why Life invites us to tune in more often to the invisible currents flowing below the messy surface of things. It’s here that the real lessons are being played out and we can adjust our perspective.
The Intuitive Vision Board (IVB) does this for me. There are other things that uplift me too – like expressions of love, nature in all its glory, and the sea. The IVB provides me with direct evidence that a benevolent, creative power exists and I can take guidance, insight and inspiration from this source by asking for it. At the same time, I must be ready to act upon the advice received, even when it may not make sense to my logical mind initially.
When synchronicity is more than coincidence
I wrote a blog about the synchronicities occurring on my current vision board, relating to recent and past travels in Andalucía, Spain, Ait Benhaddou, Morrocco, and Majorca.
Coincidences become synchronicities when our experience of them is felt deeply and, on some level, they are life-changing or transformative. These events were that for me.
These happenings sit within the life span in which I am writing a memoir. During this time I was prompted intuitively by my IVB to revisit places – both in person and in memory – that I first visited as a teenager. In so doing I had cause to revisit my relationship with my father who, along with my brother, were my travelling companions at the time.
Later in life, circumstances would transpire in which a large cloud cloaked the man I called ‘my father’. “Abandonment and cruelty,” were words I latterly associated with him and these perceptions alone might well have crept into my memoir.
Now I was remembering that my relationship with him was not always so difficult. There had been a window of four years in which he had been a beneficial influence – perhaps not always in the way he intended but nevertheless in the way that nailed it for me. This timely awareness has provided me with a more balanced perspective and plugs a hole where the role of ‘father’ had lain empty.
If it weren’t for my father, the three of us would not have ventured beyond Devon those 55 years ago to slow-travel the length of Spain. Scarce financial resources and the limitations of having a disabled mother, might have prevented us.
If it weren’t for my father and the books he thrust my way, I wouldn’t have found my way to studying Anthropology at Durham University – a topic that was virtually unheard of at the time.
If it weren’t for my father’s pioneering spirit in business, I would not have absorbed that it was okay to become an ‘entrepreneur’ (than an employee). I started out in business by co-creating a marketing consultancy, which was something my father didn’t value but could admire. However by the time I’d sea-changed into the spiritual world of Intuitive Feng Shui and Creative Arts Psychotherapy, I’d lost him completely.

Exchanging sloths
Lana made her Intuitive Vision Board with me in February this year (2025) and we explored the significance of the images and symbols during the intuitive reading that followed – which included a sloth. So when a sloth appeared as my screen saver, I immediately thought of Lana, sent her the sloth and asked: “How’s life?”.
Lana works hard at her own business and doesn’t move slowly so it was a joke to see a sloth appear on her IVB. However, with health issues pressing, she took it as a significant sign to slow down and take an early pension.
There were puffins on her IVB also but she had no idea what they were about.
At the time of making her IVB, Lana had reached a watershed. She was treading water, not because she wanted to, but she had no alternative. We’d already applied Feng Shui practice to prepare her to leave South Wales once her mother’s home had sold and hers had been redecorated for sale. The sticking point was not knowing where they would move to and so were contemplating buying a campervan and travelling around until they did.
When the sloth arrived from me Lana wrote: “You must have been tuning in to me because I was about to send you an update”.
Lana’s story …
“I wanted to spend a few days away with a friend and to rendezvous at a place we’d never been before. Randomly we chose Westward Ho in North Devon – about equidistant drivetime for both of us. We picked an AirBnB overlooking the sea and, as the sun went down, we spotted an island in the distance yet neither of us knew what it was.
“The next day, wandering around Bideford, I spotted so many mugs with puffins on them, reminding me of my vision board. We had an equally lovely time in Appledore soaking up the laid back vibe and the community spirit.
“I was drawn to a community-run arts and craft shop. At the back, on a high shelf next to even more puffins, I spotted a large painting of a sloth. Sloths and puffins in North Devon, I thought that was weird although they were happy to coexist on my vision board.
“I asked the shopkeeper why the proliferation of puffin memorabilia and she told me about the puffin colony on Lundy Island – the same anonymous island we’d spotted off-shore the previous evening. Apparently puffins arrive in May to July to nest and have their young so I’m wondering if I’m supposed to ‘nest’ somewhere around here too.”
The upshot of this delightful story, which makes it all the more compelling, is that this is a life-changing moment for Lana because they are now moving to Appledore. Having barely heard of the place before, she was drawn to Appledore intuitively by the mysterious workings of her vision board and instantly decided that this was the place.
She called her partner, Mike, back home and told him the news. She laid on the fact she’d spotted a nice property, slightly out of their price range, but which curiously had the name “Carol King” over the door – his favourite musician.
Lana had also picked up on the presence of a strong church community which she felt would appeal to Mike, as a non-practicing pastor. Mike had no resistance to Appledore whatsoever – and they are on their way.

More synchronicity
The day before my sloth was winding its way to Lana, I’d already booked the boat trip from Bideford to Lundy island to see the puffins!
Pouring over the map of North Devon, studying places to spend an overnighter, I looked at Bideford, Westward Ho and Appledore. While North Devon is only 1 ½ hours from where we live, we wanted to explore this section of the heritage coastline further. (Yes, we’ve read The Salt Path and seen the film.)
The same day I was exchanging stories with Lana, I also heard from Emily.
Emily had been listening to a podcast and thought of me. The podcast was a discussion between three Jungian Analysts about synchronicity. What do you know!
Characteristics of synchronicity
Jungian’s studies in Depth Psychology was were I’d first come across the concept of synchronicity during my MA in Creative Arts Psychotherapy. I ‘d set out to encourage the conditions that would foster it with the Intuitive Vision Board.
Synchronicity is an unplanned phenomenon.
It invites us to expand our awareness and become more available to the mysterious, numinous aspects of life.
It wants us to connect with the deeper patterns and archetypes at play in our personal and collective existence.
It defies rational explanation but is infused with a sense of significance, rightness and destiny, which our rational mind (logical left brain) will struggle to grasp the full implication of it. We know we’ve been a target of synchronicity however because our experience of it is visceral; we feel it in our bones.