Customer Reviews

There Are No Accidents: Synchronicity and the Stories of Our Lives

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4 star:		(6)
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1 star:		(6)

 

 

having experienced the power of synchronicity in my life, i suggest that this book be read by every individual who wants to better understand this phenomenon. robert hopcke was able to present this jungian concept in everyday language which makes it easy to understand and relate with...it will also make someone appreciate our "iterconnectedness" with the rest of the cosmos which gives us a life full of hope. reading this book confirmed and gave name to the wonderful forces which gently (and sometimes not too gently!)shaped my life, giving me a clearer picture of the path towards individuation...

Once you pick up this book, you will be compelled to continue reading it; however, you must pause at times in order to digest its powerful message. Hopcke successfully and succinctly illustrates the mosaic of our lives. Each person's life is unique and has a "plot" in which "coincidences" are intended and meaningful "accidents." Hopcke eloquently delineates what Jung termed "synchronicity" and he provides a marvelous collection of examples from real life of synchronistic events.

Hopcke demonstrates that each facet of our life has meaning and is a step along the path that we must follow. Each event in our life weaves a segment in the overall tapestry of our life on this planet. By "going with the flow" and avoiding impendance to the flow, the beautiful "story" of our life will become evident.

This book is in one of my top 5 must read books. I have read it a dozen times and it rings true to the fact that their seriously are no accidents in life. Hopcke writes in a way that you will begin to look at your life and see that this incident could not have occured had that incident not occurred and so on and so on. It is incredible and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. A MUST READ. This is not metaphysical hokey pokey stuff. This is real life stuff.

I enjoyed reading this exploration of one of Carl Jung's central concepts of synchronicity. Hopcke explores the concept in various contexts and situations from love relationships to our spiritual lives. I found his reminder that the meaning we give to synchronicity is after the event and that each of us has a different sense of the importance of a synchronistic happening. I decided to use his book as required reading in a college course on Jung's ideas applied to one's personal life. The students seem to be enjoying his writing as well. The book is very readable and engaging.

This delightful, fascinating collection of true stories collected by Hopke is strongly recommended for the "mystic" at any level of development. His work shows us that these kinds of coincidental events, first labelled "synchronistic" by Carl Jung, sooner or later occur in the lives of us all. And they are more than mere coincidences. Many times a job loss occurs just in time to save someone from a worse disaster. A person may be considering using a certain song in an audition against the advice of his voice coach, only to hear it on the radio on the way to the audition. This prompts him to use the song and he gets the coveted part. Another person meets someone from the distant past in the middle of the desert, and that meeting completely changes the future of that particular individual.

Hopke discusses the synchronicity of dreams, as well. Much to his credit, he also addresses the problem with assigning major significance to minor events, and covers those who blow "mystical" occurrences out of proportion.

An intriguing collection of true short stories of people's lives, this is well worth the read.

Synchronicity is well described and illustrated by examples in this book. Hopcke defines synchronistic events as being acausal, symbolic, emotional, and transitional. He gives not only the examples of various types of synchronicities but goes on to explore the meaning of the synchronicity.

The book can function for the reader on two levels.

First, on a personal level, individuals may seek to examine their own lives for synchonicities which will assist them in their own transitions and personal growth.

Second, on a generalized level, a reader can begin to understand the behavior of others as related to the phenomena. Understanding the meaning of other's life events, etc. is a very rich source of interest. To wit, note our practical mania for movies, TV, books, articles, and music. In the time of a day's work, we often find many people constantly developing personal themes of synchronicity. We can be supportive as they develop their own meaning from these life events and we can enjoy the sharing of their stories.

This little book is thought provoking and interesting.

A great introduction to synchronicity. Easy to read, but not too basic. It has many great examples of real life meaningfull coincidences, with explinations in between. Well written, and not too tedious to read. It opens up your mind to look for synchronicity in your own life.

I had never heard of Jung's theory of synchronicity and found the book intriguing--for the first few chapters. Then it became repetitious. But it is thought-provoking--just know when to quit reading! Actually, it has made me more conscious of coincidences around me (I've had quite a few recently with a name from the past mentioned, then getting e-mail from the person the next day). However, one could take the theory to the extreme and try to find meaning in EVERY coincidence, thus driving themselves and everyone around them crazy. The book never addresses this to my satisfaction.

While in the basement of a used bookstore, I found this book shelved near the floor. The first time I picked it up, I didn't think it would be interesting. So I walked away towards the History section, determined to find a book on World History. However my intuition told me to go back and flip through this book again. I followed my gut. Next thing you know, I'm sitting on the basement floor curled up, all snug like a cat in the corner of a warm room.

Combing through the stories, I was amazed to learn that I wasn't alone in my experiences with synchronicities. The book featured examples of people finding their life purpose, dream jobs, soul mate, and long lost friends.

My favorite stories were about:

- A man discovering that he was meant to be a Hindu Astrologer/Healer. He had intended to be an academic scholar before he went to India to write his PhD dissertation.

- A woman reading about an obscure branch of pyschology from a self-help book, feeling drawn to the subject, and then learning that there was a master's degree program in her city.

- A man and woman meet on an airplance and sit next to each other. They piss each other off and leave the plane upset. Years later they meet again as changed individuals, fall in love, and get married.

- A New York City man feels that he should move to San Francisco. He doesn't know anyone there nor has he ever visited the city. Following his intuition he leaves, ends up of living near a friend he hasn't seen in years, and lands the job of his dreams.

These are just some samples of the great stories mentioned. The author also gives us some examples from his personal life. The book is well worth a read and I highly recommend it.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. The first few chapters, armed with a yellow highliter, I tried to absorb all the definitions, etc. believing then that I could gain a lot of insight from this book. Unlike some of the critics above, I did complete the book because I kept thinking it would get better and there would be more. Most of his examples seem to be from his psychotherapist friends or acquaintances or people into this sort of thing. I would like to have seen more examples from average people. Also, his obvious "gayness" references to himself (some subtle, some not) kind of got in the way for me. A person could drive oneself nuts trying to read into everything that happens to you each day, even drawing unfortunate conclusions. No insights for the average layperson not schooled in all the theory that goes with this supposedly user-friendly book. All in all, a waste of time and money for me!