Author, lawyer and leader Julian Gresser hosted the recent Coincidence Café session on “Synchronicity for Building Resilience” (watch the replay). In this blog, he shares about his ongoing work to explore the direct correlation between Meaningful Coincidences, Synchronicities, and Serendipities (CSS) and the enhanced resilience of communities. Julian defines “resilience” as the capacity to turn adversity to advantage. “Integral resilience” amplifies this power by combining physical, emotional, organizational, and spiritual dimensions of resilience.

A Good Omen

I am currently preparing a 12-week online course to be initially offered in March 2024 on Resilient Communities (learn more). A few weeks ago, I was working on Module 5 “Finding Your Power” when I hear a scratching sound. I look around and a hummingbird has flown into my office and is desperately fluttering by the glass garden door. I go over, and ever so gently and carefully clasp her in my hands; I open the door and release her. I will never forget its warm little body pulsating with life in my hands. I experience a deep sense of connectedness, love, and gratitude. A moment later I check my cell phone; there is a message. It reads, “scientists confirm that we and the universe are inseparable.”

The next day I look everywhere for this quote: I cannot find its sender; it has vanished. Then I locate a quote of Albert Einstein’s: “A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He/she (sic) experiences thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of consciousness.” 

Resilient Communities

Integral resilience appears to intensify CSS events, offering potential applications for communities in meeting 21^st century critical challenges. I observe:

• Story telling of CSS events provide commentary and feedback on important developments or questions for a community and make them explicit and salient for the members.
• They restore and invite a sense of enchantment.
• They portend imminent catastrophes.
• They express and embody a community’s and at times humanity’s shared values.
• They frame ethical choices.
• They chart evolutionary pathways.

I have observed and am currently testing the proposition that increasing incidence of CSS events is closely linked with a “Resilience Multiplier Effect” (RME) — a self-reinforcing, positive, and measurable marker of enhanced integral resilience.

Our team is also discovering that a community’s RME can be further enhanced by skillful “prompts” using Chat GPT4 and Open AI. We are conducting ongoing research into this field, towards contributing to thriving, resilient communities world-wide.

We invite interested members of the TCP community to subscribe to our Newsletter, which will provide updates on the Resilient Communities course and Breaking News Topic Feeds.

© Copyright Julian Gresser, December 2023, All Rights Reserved. Julian Gresser is an international, environmental, public interest lawyer, explorer, inventor, author, humanist, and recognized expert on Japan. He is a co-founder of the Broadband International Legal Action Network (BBILAN).