We find ourselves interested in a new idea, gadget, or a location to move to or travel to. We naturally engage in conversations with people about those things. Where do I go from here? As we do that, suddenly our social media is loaded with ads related to the thing we are interested in. 

Amazing coincidence? We know it’s not. What’s happening is that social media software has been developed to listen to us through our digital devices, the ones we interact with dozens of times each day. As we search and discuss this “thing” we are interested in, the software begins to find people and their companies willing to sell us something that is more or less connected with our interest. Most of us have probably even engaged in the ads that come up this way and made purchases because of them. And, most of us have found ourselves really frustrated at the deluge of unexpected advertising. 

Long before there were devices that could listen to us and send advertising our way, there was (and continues to be) a listening dynamic built inside of us. The process of living our lives raises important questions that either we choose to engage or we choose to put off until another time. Either way, those internal questions keep arising within us. What am I doing with my life? How do I become a better father, mother, or friend? How do I understand the struggles going on in the world? Our questions can be endless, and while they may feel cosmic, they are also personal. 

And that’s how this ancient, human internal system works. When we go inside ourselves in search of meaning, connecting points begin to emerge. When we take the questions emerging in us seriously, acknowledge them, agree to listen to them and work with them, life around us will begin to show up with new ideas, books, stories, experiences, and relationships that expand the question itself and our ability to respond to it. And that will be an amazing coincidence. In fact, we can call that an amazing synchronicity. When we agree to search for meaning, the help and guidance we need into that meaning begins to show up often in truly surprising ways.

~Robert Patrick

If these kinds of questions and experiences sound familiar, you might find spiritual direction a good way to explore them.  Here’s how to get started.