Synchronicities

A synchronicity -- for any unfamiliar with the term, save as the title of last recording by The Police -- is a "simultaneous occurrence of events that appear significantly related but have no discernable causal connection." Here's the best one that ever happened to me:

It was a Friday afternoon. I was riding in a client's SUV, coming back to San Francisco from a meeting we'd been to in the south bay. After we'd de-briefed after the meeting, I asked him what his plans were for the weekend. He was heading up to Royal Gorge Resort to do some cross-country skiing. His mention of Royal Gorge made me think of a story I'd seen on the evening news a few nights before. It was a puff piece on the resort, which is the largest cross-country ski resort in America. As part of the story, they interviewed David Ireland, who is a successful local artist and responsible for creating one of the premiere art centers in San Francisco, the Capp Street Project. However, Ireland wasn't identified as "David Ireland, Artist," but "David Ireland, Skier," just one of several guests the reporter interviewed.

I mentioned this to my client, because I knew he had a more than passing interest in contemporary art (he's apparently a boyhood friend of art superstar Matthew Barney). I remember thinking to myself, "I wonder what David Ireland has been up to -- I haven't read his name or thought about him in years."

After we arrived at my client's office, where I had parked my car, I said good-bye and headed across the bridge to Berkeley, where I was meeting friends for dinner in order to celebrate the birthday of one of them. Because of this, I needed to obtain a gift. The Gardener is one of the best retail stores I know, and a fantastic place to pick up a gift for almost anyone. A bit pricey, perhaps, but there's great stuff and they do a nifty wrap job.

So it was in to the Gardener. I walked slowly to the back of the store, not seeing anything that was right yet, then turned 180 degrees to peruse the wares on tables in the center of the store and found myself face to face with...David Ireland.

I was floored. I would have been only surprised if perhaps the store was stocking a book about him, but to see him on the news, mention that to someone, and then 20 minutes later be four feet from him was a tad overwhelming.

If anyone reading this has a synchronicity story they'd like to share, I'd love to hear about it. A similar story was part of an earlier post, which you can find here.