Synchronicity

My friend Leena, the one who regularly comments on my blogs, put out a request to members of our writing group. Did anyone have a set of the three monkeys, hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil? She was writing a blog and required a photo to accompany her piece of writing. We all replied no, except for one member who had a set of owls, depicting the same message. ‘’Perhaps this would do,’’ she suggested. Her offer was kindly accepted and a photo sent through.

I thought nothing more of it. The three monkeys, and their meaning, was something that I knew about and resonated in my subconscious from somewhere way back in my past. I certainly hadn’t seen any for myself in a number of years.

Would you believe it, but the very next morning, as I was scrolling through my Facebook posts, I saw my daughter-in-law’s mother had posted a picture of the three monkeys, something that had caught her eye on her current trip to Thailand. I sent a quick note via messenger, asking if she would mind her photo being used by my friend, and also apologising if I had caused her alarm by thinking something may have happened to her daughter. I wasn’t sure of the time difference between us and Thailand, but I received a reply in minutes. ‘’Of course.’’

That should have been all there was to it. Yesterday, Stephen and I decided to visit an old friend a couple of hours drive away, one I had only seen two or three times in the last 20 years. They had only recently moved back from Australia. I was using her toilet and there on the window sill were, you guessed it, a little set of the three monkeys. I was a little taken aback. Really, I thought. But that wasn’t the end of it. As we stepped outside when leaving, there was a pole in her garden; that’s right, depicting the three monkeys once again. I couldn’t believe it. After not seeing any of these for years and years, here were three examples, bang, bang, bang.

It was getting late as we drove back through Kaitaia, so we decided to stop for dinner at the Indian restaurant. I made my way to the comfortable foam seat, and looking up at the wall opposite me, I was incredulous. Not monkeys this time, but three little men, and you guessed it, one holding his eyes, one his ears and the other with a hand over his mouth. Just to be sure, I asked the waiter on his return. ‘’What is this of?” He started to explain in his broken English and I cut in. ‘’Not, see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil, is it?’’ His face lit up in a big smile. ‘’Yes,’’ he replied.

This was certainly synchronicity at its finest but also, I thought, carrying a message for me. After all, it was me who had seen the message four times, five actually, if I count the owl photo that was supplied by our friend.

It reminded me of the four agreements, identified by Don Miguel Ruiz - be impeccable with your word, don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions and always do your best.

The common thread here being speak no evil and being impeccable with one’s word. It is a good reminder of not speaking badly of another. That old saying of ‘if you haven’t got something good to say, don’t say it at all’ is so true. I must remember this and become more impeccable with my word.

A quick Google search also revealed that the three monkeys are a symbol of good luck. I like that connotation. Looks like I could be in for a jolly good spell.