Life's Tapestry of Invisible Threads

An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place, and circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle. But it will never break.
--An ancient Chinese belief

Have you ever noticed how life seems to bring into our world - the people we need at just the right time? Be it in the form of a passing stranger with a random offer of kindness, a chance meeting with someone who quickly became a lifelong friend or reconnecting with someone from long ago. An invisible thread connecting souls destined to touch each other by pulling those we often times do not even realize how much we need - until they are right there in front of us. Beautiful souls, once found, that we will never forget, or cease to feel their impression on our hearts and souls.

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across an advertisement promoting a rock and gem show at a local store. As “luck” would have it, the show was being held that day and I happened to be off from work.  With my love of rocks and stones, it didn't take much of an internal argument to convince myself to go and check it out. When I arrived and walked in, I was immediately overcome with the feeling of home. It smelled divine, with a wall of books to one side and rows of cloth covered tables on the other. The tables were filled with every stone, gem and rock imaginable. Heaven. But, before I could get to even the first of the tables, I was greeted by a woman asking if I had come for a reading. I must have looked at her a bit funny, as she quickly explained there were also healers and psychics that day as well.. Without pausing to think it through, I found myself nodding my head in agreement and following her. It was as if my feet had a mind of their own and I was powerless to stop them. Intrigued, I didn't fight it. 

Another woman appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and asked I follow her. Walking behind her to the rooms in the back I had the strongest, most overwhelming feeling, I had known her forever. We sat and talked that day like old friends. She said things that touched my heart and made me think - really think. Her words touched a part of my soul which was sorely in need of tending to, and, for a moment, I felt like I could actually see the invisible thread that led me to her that day.  I had needed her without even knowing it. I had needed the words she spoke to me. My soul needed it.

I went in looking for rocks. I found a soul sister and some knowledge that changed my entire world. I would say I got rocked – and not in the way I was expecting.

Since meeting her, I have spent some time thinking of all the threads I have experienced over the years. Invisible threads which led me to special people who touched my life and heart. Chance meetings with strangers. Friends who seem destined to reappear in my world no matter how far they had traveled away, how much time had passed, or how much life had happened while we were apart. It amazes me how sometimes life seems to circle around and bring those I once held close, until their road had branched off from mine, back into my world again - at just the right time. The invisible thread stretching between the two of us but never breaking. Becoming tangled and knotted, but eventually working itself out, as if we were destined to meet again at a time in our lives that one or the other needed. 

Photo Credit: Anna Taylor

I have to say with some people, I may not be able to see the thread, but I sure can feel it. I may have no idea where they are in life now, I just know, without a doubt, they will make it back into my world at some point. I feel connected to them. The most amazing part, is when someone reappears, and they utter the exact same thing to me - they never stopped feeling the connection between us. That regardless of how much time had passed, how much distance had grown between us, or how our circumstances had changed, they had also felt an unseen thread holding us together. A soul tether. Linking those who are destined to meet, touch and be a part of each other’s worlds, through space and time.

One of the most magical moments one can have is upon a chance meeting with a complete stranger, and having this stranger, turn into a lifelong friend immediately. A person, who without even thinking about it, you find yourself confiding in and trusting.  A stranger, when upon reflection, you can see the perfect synchronicity in your “randomly” meeting. I remember the last time I had it happen. There was a local radio dj who I would see at concerts from time-to-time. I didn’t know her any further than the sound of her voice and her name. I didn’t know her story, where she came from, or really anything about her. Yet, I felt so drawn to her. We started talking via social media one day, a conversation so fluid and intense, about dreams and life, that it felt like I had known her my entire life. Our thread brought us together, we both know we were supposed to meet, know that sometime in the future we will collaborate on a project, and that the universe had it all figured out long before I even knew she existed. Yet, there she was, at the exact time I needed her. A blessing. And now, a friend with whom I can confide in and trust. All from a chance meeting of strangers. 

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The invisible thread.  

Throughout most of my life, I have paid little heed to fate or destiny. I was too busy dealing with reality and the tangible things in front of me clamoring for attention. But, I realized something over the past few months of reflection, so many amazing things had happened over the years when I wasn't paying attention or when I was looking in another direction, to bring much need help or clarity into my world. I would turn around and someone would walk into my life, who I didn't know I needed - until I found them. A passing stranger would turn to me and utter words that were exactly what I needed to hear at the time, a long-lost friend would suddenly reach out, or I would run into someone at the grocery store who I had been closed to and just had simply lost touch with.  Millions of invisible threads weaving our worlds together.

Call it fate. Call it destiny. Call it chance. But you can't deny that it happens.

I know I am tied to certain people regardless of distance or circumstance. Otherwise, once they departed from my life, I would never think of them again. There are those who cross my mind and thoughts often, never failing to bring a warm smile or flutter to my soul. I have found, it is these same people, who always seem to circle back around years later and we pick up again like we had parted ways only yesterday. A cosmic thread of love that pulls on your soul until the planets seemingly align to bring you back together again.

Learn to pay attention to chance encounters, to your thoughts of certain people as they travel through your consciousness and to those moments when life walks in the exact person you needed - at the exact moment you needed them. For it is in these moments when life takes one's breath away, that the mysterious ways of the universe are reveled.

Trust that you will find exactly who you need, at exactly the right time, and you will forever be changed. Either by the lessons they teach you, love they give, or simply the feeling of finding a kindred spirit in the world seemingly filled with strangers.

Will you be paying attention when it happens to you?