Lizzy Miles's Blog, page 2

Mirror Synchronicity: Jesus is calling

I was visiting a hospice client with late stage dementia, and I noticed the caregiver had several books lying around.  We started talking about the books he had been reading and he mentioned that he had received the Jesus Calling book from a nurse of ours.  He said he found it to be incredible helpful and inspiring.  I made a note of it.

I went to visit my next client who has a very similar condition to the first client.  I thought about how similar their conditions were and also that they both had the same first name.  The son had music playing next to the client's ear on an IPOD.  The last time I had been to the house he had 50's music on the player, but on this day it was gospel music.  Imagine my surprise when, after only being there a few minutes, there was an Alan Jackson song with the lyrics "Jesus Calling."



I was SO struck by the synchronicity that I had to pause for a moment and acknowledge the coincidence.  The son told me the name of the song and I made a note of it.  He then said, Wouldn't it be funny if the phone rang right now?"

It didn't.  But that would have been freaky.

Mirror Synchronicity: Hong Kong Death Cafe

You may or may not have made the connection between this blogger and the Death Cafe movement. Yes, I'm the same Lizzy Miles. I was planning my trip to Hong Kong in June to present the Death Cafe concept at The International Conference on Grief and Bereavement.  Since a fellow Death Cafe host was going with me to present, I thought we could possibly host or co-host a Death Cafe in Hong Kong. I was at the Association for Death Education and Counseling conference in late April and I met Professor Andy Ho from Hong Kong University. I spoke with him briefly at the conference and mentioned that I thought it would be cool to have a Death Cafe in Hong Kong. After the conference I sent an email asking for help in finding a co-host. 

Extract from email I sent on May 4 to Professor Andy Ho: 
What would be needed from our local hosts: 
1. Finding a location (detailed specs below) 
2. Help to spread the word locally (co-design a flyer/send emails/ post on social media/ talk to media) 
3. Help with co-hosting event (3-6:30pm on 6/14) 

On May 8th, completely unrelated to the email I sent, I received an email through the Deathcafe.com website: 

Dear Lizzy,
A friend and I are planning to set up a death cafe in Hong Kong. I read the International Conference on Grief & Bereavement website and wish to know which date and time your sharing will be. 
Regards, Carmen 

I wrote Carmen back and did not mention dates but said that I was already in discussion with Hong Kong University folks regarding hosting an event. Again, I did not mention any dates. 

Carmen wrote back on May 9th and said: 
For the hosting of Death Cafe, I am planning to be at 3pm-5pm on 14th /15th June. 

Carmen picked the EXACT DATE and TIME I had suggested to Professor Ho. I got chills. I knew then that this would be a momentous occasion. From that point forward the coordination and organization by the Hong Kong hosts was incredible. As it ended up, I had the opportunity to attend the event as a guest and I was not even needed as a host.  During the event, I was so moved by the experience and the magnitude of it all. Attendees expressed deep gratitude for the creation of a safe place to have conversations about the taboo topic of death and dying.


The event was covered by the media that evening on television and the following day in the South China Morning Post.

Directional Synchronicity: Disconnected

I was talking on the phone with my boss when we got disconnected for no reason (she was on a land line and I normally have excellent cell reception.)  I called her back and we talked for just a minute or two and got disconnected again.  I called her a third time just to say goodbye and end the conversation.  She said she thought her phone was broken.  I told her the disconnected phone calls were the universe's way of telling us we need to focus our attention elsewhere.  Sure enough, within 2 minutes I received a customer service phone call that I had been anticipating for days.  Because I answered the call, I was directly able to talk to the company representative and plead my case.  Had I stayed on the phone with my boss, I would have stayed outside and missed the call on my home phone.  Pay attention to your disconnects!

Mirror Synchronicity: Superbowl Screwed?

I was sitting with my husband while he was watching the Superbowl. He started out rooting for Baltimore but began to root for San Francisco when the game became unbalanced. I was half watching and half reading on the IPad. I came across this article in Mental Floss about a new type of coffin that screws into the ground vertically.


Right as I was reading the article,the Ravens scored again right after halftime and my husband said,

"Well, they're screwed now."

That was synchronicity number one.

It continues. I turn the page on my Flipboard over to Fast Company and the first article I see is:


Wait, it gets better. Just a couple of minutes later I was reading this article

when my husband said,

"They've lost power."

For those of you who aren't watching the Superbowl, "they" meant the Superdome itself.  They lost half of its power for several minutes (could be longer, I felt compelled to come blog!)

Directional Synchronicity: A Moldy Moment

Recently my husband and I were talking about the music genre of "funk." We tried to find a station on Sirius, but the only station we found was a blend that ended up playing Whitney Houston. I told him I had some real funk music and went looking in the basement for my CDs.

For the record, (pun intended), any real funk collection must include some Parliament:

While I was rooting around in my basement, I found a number of CDs that I had not yet opened. I had purchased them over two years ago. One of them I was very excited to see, a collection of Buddhist meditations by Pema Chödrön. The main reason the CDs were left unopened is that about a year ago, we had a sump pump malfunction and a subsequent flood in our basement about six months after we had moved in. I had not unpacked boxes and the cardboard soaked up a lot of the water. Sorting through ruined letters, photographs, postcards and books was very emotional for me. It is a year later and I have not finished the job.

When I brought the CDs upstairs, I noticed some of the cases were ruined by the water but the CDs were still intact. The meditation CD, however, was ruined. I tried as hard as I could to pry open the case and I could not. It wasn't cheap ($29), and I had never even listened to it! I began to cry. Then I noticed the title and that's when I couldn't help but laugh.


As I stood there and looked at my moldy CD that was over two years old and never opened, the lesson sunk in. The title of the CD was, "This Moment Is the Perfect Teacher." It almost became a Mantra.

This Moment Is the Perfect Teacher
This Moment Is the Perfect Teacher
This Moment Is the Perfect Teacher

My basement is full of memories from the past that I could not let go of. The flood, I've always felt, was a nudge from the universe to help me to start to let go. Seeing the mold was a shove. This could get really ugly if I don't do something soon.

It's time to clear it all out and stop living in the past.  LET GO.

Mirror Synchronicity: Snowflakes

Snowflakes actually start as tiny ice crystals that form from water vapor that freezes in the atmosphere. The size of a snowflake depends on how many ice crystals connect together. Like snowflakes, this synchronicity kept growing.

Part of my job as a hospice social worker is to lead groups. I was on the hook for leading a "Making Memories" craft/discussion group at a local nursing home. Nearly two months ago I had talked with the activities coordinator about the craft and I suggested we make snowflakes. It is a craft that most people remember from their childhood years. She thought that was a great idea.

Now first of all, I need to tell you that I am not a "crafty" person and I did not remember how to create them.   I knew I needed paper and scissors, which seemed easy enough. I got online a few times and tried to follow instructions on Pinterest, but my efforts never looked like the ones on the blogs.

This was also going to be my first time leading this craft group, so I wanted everything to go well. Snowflakes were on my mind. The first synchronicity happened when I was at my metaphysical party and a man who sells minerals and stones by the name of "TomStones" walked up and handed me a Snowflake Obsidian stone as a gift and said it was calling out to me.
On Tuesday the week of the event, a colleague called to confirm the event was on Thursday. I had Wednesday on my calendar. I called the activities coordinator and she said they had changed it Thursday but she must have forgotten to tell me. I was secretly relieved that I would have another day to figure out how to cut out the snowflakes so that I could teach the group.
On the day of the event I forgot my badge. I had an extra badge in my purse with the wrong name (Liz instead of Lizzy), but I figured that it would be better than not having a badge. I did not have a lanyard though. At the nursing home I was visiting in the morning, I walked in a different entrance than where my meeting was in order to go buy a lanyard from the store in the facility. Unfortunately it was closed. 
I walked through the long hallways to get from where the store was to where I needed to be. On the route there were beautiful quilts hanging up on the wall, which I admired greatly. When I made it over to the right part of the building I had some extra time so I inquired with the receptionist about a particular quilt that had caught my eye. She told me about the quilting group that exhibits. I said that I really wished I could quilt like they did but it seemed hard.
She said they were not hard at all. She used to do Hawaiian quilting. I had never heard of it.
She then said, "Do you remember how to do the snowflake craft from when we were kids?" I started laughing and she looked at me a bit strangely. I explained the situation that I was hours away from leading group and I had not yet figured it out.
By the way, here is an example of Hawaiian quilting.  Look familiar?
The receptionist took out her scissors and paper and demonstrated for me how to cut the paper.
Oh and one other synchronicity - the weather. On the day the event was originally scheduled (January 30), it was 65 degrees outside. The day we actually held the crafting event (January 31)?  SNOWY and 25.

Mirror Synchronicity: Willing Hands Make Happy Hearts

It was Friday night an I was getting ready to sit down and watch television with my husband. While I was waiting for him, I found Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original 1971 version) on cable. Here is a clip from my favorite movie:
When my husband joined me in the living room, he did not want to watch Willy Wonka, so we decided to watch 30 Rock on DVR. The title of the episode was A Goon's Deed in a Weary World. The description of the episode is pretty basic:

As Liz and Criss' new children arrive, Jack seeks a new head of NBC and TGS teeters on the edge.

So imagine my surprise when, during the episode there were multiple references to Willy Wonka! At first I thought it would be just the one reference or similarity, but they weaved the Willy Wonka theme throughout the show.

The sign "Willing Hands Make Happy Hearts" can be seen in the movie scene above Kenneth portraying a fake bad guy as a test for the potential employee "Charlie"During 30 Rock there was a promo for the television show Faceoff advertising a Willy-Wonka special effects contest. I was nearly delirious about the triple synchronicity. Then, as I was writing this, I discovered that the SciFy channel is owned by NBC and that the tie-in was probably quite deliberate.  Oh well.

Mirror Synchronicity: Time Travel

Last weekend I watched two time travel movies. The concept of time travel fascinates me. The first movie I saw was Looper , which I had been looking forward to. Unfortunately, I found it to have too much gunfire to hold my interest. 

The second movie MORE than made up for the disappointment of the first one. It was titled Safety Not Guaranteed . I have been talking about this movie all week. If this ad intrigues you, the for sure, watch the movie:


Now here is where the synchronicity comes in. I've been thinking about this time travel movie all week and randomly someone leaves a comment on a time travel post that I wrote three years ago.