I'm not ordinarily someone who searches for mysticality in everything odd, but last November something strange happened.
It had to do with my iPod shuffler, the subtitles of a TV show, and a job I was interviewing for.
The First Occurrence
I have a playlist of roughly half Cibo Matto songs and half Zero 7 songs that is 90 minutes long, and as I started to take a walk I shuffled the list [starting with a random Zero 7 song].
Since my walk was about 45 minutes, I only got to hear half of the songs. But here’s the strange thing: only Zero 7 songs played during the walk. Not a single Cibo Matto song played until just as I was back at my doorstep.
The Second Occurrence
Then, while I was having breakfast, I sat down for a couple of minutes and was barely paying attention to a TV show that was on, but did notice that one sentence of its subtitles ended in this: “…, zero, seven.”
Beginning to Wonder...
After seeing the subtitle I was kind of flabbergasted. If the shuffler playing only Zero 7 songs wasn’t enough, the subtitles showing those specific words to me the moment I sat down greatly enhanced the strange feeling I had.
The Third Occurrence
So, regarding the job I was interviewing for, I had already made it through a phone screening and two interviews, and on the day of the shuffler & subtitle I was scheduled to have a final panel interview.
Needless to say, I was extremely nervous that morning (probably as nervous as I've ever been). It is not for lack of self-confidence, but rather the fact that so much rides on getting a job: being able to have somewhere to live, food, water, electricity, internet, etcetera.
I read somewhere (can't remember where) that stress increases the perception of coincidences due to the hyperawareness it involves. This seems a pretty reasonable hypothesis given what I was going through and what I noticed.
Anyway, I had the feeling then – and still believe – that the coincidence of the shuffler & subtitle was pointing at my potential new job with a resounding YES; because, as it turns out, roughly 07 hours after the walk, I was offered the job.
My walk had ended just after 8am, and I ended up getting the job offer just after 3pm.
Rationalization
One of the interesting aspects of this experience was how I tried to rationalize away the first coincidence while it was happening.
After I had been walking for more than twenty minutes, and every time a new Zero 7 song started playing, my reaction was “No way! A Cibo Matto song will have to play next.” At about 30 minutes I started thinking “Wait a minute, maybe I accidentally selected a different playlist of only Zero 7 songs.” Then at about 40 minutes I thought “Yeah that’s what I must have done,” but then – just as I was literally walking up to the doorstep – a Cibo Matto song started playing.
This too was an interesting experience, because it instantly threw my rationalization out the window.
Then, seven to ten minutes later, the second coincidence occurred... (while I did not actually time this, I am inclined to believe it was closer to seven minutes) ...
Interpretation
Whereas the second occurrence by itself might have gone unnoticed, the fact that it came upon the heels of the first by less than ten minutes caused it major significance.
For me, the first two occurrences together felt like a double coincidence with a very precise meaning: “In 07 hours you will be offered the job.”
Now of course I imbued that meaning with extra optimism by also thinking that the job will be right for me, and that I'll end up liking the job.
Otherwise why would such strange occurrences be pointing to it like that?
Finally, the fact that 07 hours later I actually was offered the job, and now – 07 months later – I actually do like the job, indicates to me that all three occurrences together constitute a meaningful triple coincidence.