Miracle on a Monday

The most astonishing synchronicity happened to me a few weeks ago. Even the most skeptical of friends opened their eyes wide when I shared this with them. Eckhart Tolle teaches that certain moments—seeing a beautiful sunrise, or an exquisite flower, for example—have the power to pull us, for a few fleeting seconds, out of the “machinery” of thoughts that is the ego mind. I like to think that this story offers a similar jolt of wonderment that returns us, albeit temporarily, to the mystery that’s at the heart of being.

Signposts from the universe.

On this particular morning, I was opening mail at my desk. As the books editor at a magazine, I receive a lot of parcels—almost all books. I’d opened a few when I noticed a smaller-than-usual package. Something in me knew, even as I began to open it, that an extraordinary situation was unfolding. Inside, was a delicate necklace. The pendant was inscribed with “Breathe in love.”

Enchanted, I turned over the package to read the address label. Sure enough, I’d opened something that was intended for someone else. It was easy to understand the mix-up: the recipient was also called Karina, spelt just as I spell it. She works in my building and has a surname that begins with M.

I began to repackage everything and reseal the parcel, ready to send on to the right Karina—but not before I took a photo of the lovely pendant and texted it to my sister. “I think there’s a message in this,” I wrote, in love with the instruction to “Breathe in Love.”

An hour later, I returned from a meeting to find an excited text from my sister (Natalie, together we’ve co-authored AWAKEN, a book of spiritual insights): “Call me! Amazing synchronicity!!!” Feeling a bit fizzy in the belly, I picked up the phone. I could tell immediately from the pitch of her voice that something special had happened.

She explained that she’d organised a giveaway of AWAKEN through an Instagram account, The Daily Guru, that has over 14,000 followers internationally. The administrator had just notified her of the winner. “Guess who won it,” she said. “Just guess!” For a second, there was silence. I had no idea. I offered a few lame suggestions, knowing they wouldn’t be right.

There was only one copy of AWAKEN to give away. The lucky winner? It was Karina M. The other Karina M. The one who works in my building and whose package I’d mistakenly unwrapped an hour earlier

I should also mention that prior to this, I’d never heard of the other Karina.

Within a few minutes, that had all changed. I emailed her and soon delivered into her hands the necklace and her prize of AWAKEN. We keep in touch now, appreciating the strange sequence of events that brought us together and understanding that, one day, we may come to understand why we were destined to meet.

Karina won one of these!

But I’ll never understand the machinations that made it happen. What I felt on that Monday morning took me back to being a little kid burning with curiosity about spirits and mysteries—the unfathomable secrets of the invisible world—and the welcome sense of delightful surprises awaiting, never anything scary. It’s a powerful natural high. There’s a subtle pause before the brain begins to process a situation where the magical universe reasserts its dominion over the world of time and matter we dwell in.

That’s what I remember most about that miraculous Monday, when a what-are-the-chances moment delivered a precious gift of wonder into my hands.