Synchronicity

The universe seems to be talking to me, just as Sandy had a
few things to share with this beautiful snag at Arches.

Either everyone shares my current obsessions, or the universe is specifically throwing things my way. Since Sandy died, everywhere I turn, a character in a TV show, movie, play, or book is pondering the same questions I have about what comes after death and how it all works, or else a main character is a new widow, or (and these are my favorites) there's talk about how to come back from death.

Yes, of course, I've been seeking out resources on grief and I purposely rewatched Sixth Sense just to see the widow's reactions to living without her spouse. But I'm talking about the references that have been unintentional, and often profound.

It started with the first Leverage episode I watched after Sandy died (about three days later), as Parker asked pointed questions about how we know that the dead feel no pain and what comes after death. I'll spare you the long list of similar encounters I've had over the past two months, but just in the last few days, there have been several: the Dr. Who season finale with a surprise twist to the whole "the Doctor is killed" arc that shadowed the entire season; in Castle this week, a major plot point was the idea of freezing bodies so people might be brought back to life when technology advances; I began reading Dreadnought by Cherie Priest, and in the first three pages, the protagonist learns she's a widow.

Tonight, I joined friends for what seemed likely to be a melancholy comedy, a play about the Peanuts gang as high school students. Guess what two of the themes turned out to be? Yep: questions about the afterlife, and survivors' reactions to death. One character even said ( I paraphrase, unfortunately), "What if I fall in love, only to have my love die?" I don't know why all those other people were in the audience - they could simply have titled this play "This one's for Brie."