Strange coincidences often find their way into my life. Like the time I owed $67 in taxes to the IRS and I was down to nothing in my bank account. Something motivated me to take a walk, and I found $67 in cash lying in the gutter.

I was having a conversation with a new friend the other day about things like this. She lit up at the idea.

“Synchonicity!” she said. She was excited at the thought and maybe even a little surprised to find someone else who believed in it too. Like little moments in your day that you follow like markers along the path where you should be going.

Usually when my life is running like a fine Swiss watch, these sorts of things will happen. I will walk into the right place at the right time and something will just fit. This happens a lot on the road. A missed turn could take you to a beautiful scenic overlook, or a place with excellent green chile. Talking with a stranger can get you a new friend or even a connection to a great mechanic. You never can tell.

Back in May, I was headed towards home. My solar system wasn’t working right. My interior lights weren’t turning on and sometimes I would hit a bump and everything would work again for a few minutes, or everything would stop. It was out of my pay grade. I cut my tour of the west coast short and headed back to Colorado.

On a whim, I decided to detour to where Hemingway had lived at the end of his life, in Ketchum, ID. In a little town along the way, I saw a sign for conversion vans and accessories. Just a sandwich board on the side of the road. I decided to pull in and ask if they did repairs. Not only could they do the repair, it was something I could actually afford. The man who worked there knew his stuff and he rewired my solar system and not only fixed my lighting, but my water pump, and made my system exponentially more effecient. The problem had been that my grounds were done incorrectly and my fuses had melted.

$120. Fixed. Done. (Shoutout to SYNCVans!!).

I really didn’t even need to go back to homebase, but I was halfway there, so I kept going. Which was fine, because I had lots of work to do in Colorado all summer long.  I got a chance to take a plane ride for another story I was working on. I also got two pitches accepted, and made a new friend (the one I mentioned before). One story even got me a connection to a press trip and another story!

None of this would have happened if I had stayed on the coast and sat in the dark and rain for another month.

Opportunities all line themselves out, like stones in a creek that let you cross over. There’s an inexplicable flow that you will feel. It’s usually when you are paddling against the current that things fall apart. When you try to force a moment. When you rush. That’s when things start to suck.

My latest wanderlust is that other force that pushes you ahead. Without that, you just sit there. You no longer follow the stones, but instead build a tent on the bank. Your sciatica starts acting up. Your prostate fills up with cancer and you end up dead. Those stones gather moss, they sink back down, and you never get to discover where they led to.

On this second voyage, I’m learning to trust the process. Like everyone else, I’m concerned about money for gas, food, bills, etc. But if anything the last year has taught me, it’s okay to take that leap of faith. Sometimes the opportunities present themselves as we go along, and everything will be okay.

You just have to be open to recognizing the signs.

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I plan to use my substack for small articles. but there’s also my podcast and YouTube channel. I hope you’ve enjoyed what you have found here!