Recently, I have started to notice things. The song I had associated with a specific event in my life kept popping up. And to be honest, the first thing I thought was that it had to be a sign.
Then, I kept seeing the same words over and over and over again. After that, the same conversations would happen on repeat with different people. These tiny instances began to feel like little nudges from the universe. I took this to mean that I had gotten an answer for a question I was deliberating. Like it was trying to tell me something–even lead me down a specific path. I mean this was the only possibility, right?
But when I told my friends my new observations and that the universe was obviously trying to tell me something, they were quick to shake their heads in disagreement. Clearly I sounded like a crazy person, and what I had been seeing were just coincidences, they said. But it felt like a message to me, a deeply personal one.
So where do we draw the line? When do the numbers we see stop being ‘angel numbers’ and start to be just random clusters of twos and threes. 11:11 happens twice a day, so really how much of a ‘sign’ is it that you saw it in the first place?
For me, when I start to observe this repetition in my life, it feels like a distant whisper trying to give me guidance. Corny, but true. I was given a word, and I have to look deeper into these ‘signs’ to complete the sentence.
But, this repetition was also a reflection of my current thoughts as well. What was troubling my nightmares was pasted onto my waking life. Because when I saw these signs, it reminded me of something I was afraid to let go. Or something I was already thinking of doing. I wanted to feel in control.
Good memories or fear overruled my rational thought. So seeing a confirmation of what I wanted to hear kept me tied to what I was already doing (whether that was good or bad). It made me feel comfortable in spaces that sometimes no longer served me anymore.
Put it in a wider context.
Our world is bursting with a constant flow of information from our phones, TVs, advertisements and more. We cannot pay attention to everything all at once, so we naturally will gravitate towards what interests us. So when our brain chooses to see certain patterns or information in our daily lives, does this mean that we are in tune with the universe – or just our unconscious mind piquing its interest in what we are watching?
The whole debate of whether ‘signs’ and manifesting exist in the first place is incessant. I still am a firm believer of the whole spiritual gig. But when I started to categorize events in my life as signs, I began to close myself in. So take everything with an analytical eye, and a grain of salt.
Maybe, what I saw was a sign from the Universe. Or maybe my brain was just holding on.
thoughts from a bklyn gal 