We exchanged numbers and made many promises to meet up, like, very soon.
And it did not happen. So I decided he was among countless significant yet random encounters and that I will never see him again. I deleted his number.
Three or four months later, of all the places in the world, I bumped onto him at Starbucks in Washington, DC. We both exclaimed over this surprising reunion, exchanged numbers again, and made many promises to meet up, like, really very soon.
It did not happen. I sighed, deciding that, while it was very strange to find him again, it was still a random encounter. No point in keeping his number if I was not to see him ever again.
Seven months later, I changed plans at the very last minute and joined a friend in Toulouse, France to attend her deaf association meeting. And, of all the places in the world, I found him again. We were absolutely shocked to recognize each other and warily agreed to meet up for dinner that evening along with other friends.
Instead of exchanging numbers, we became Facebook friends. Instead of making many promises of meeting up, we nodded good-bye and parted ways, wondering if we will manage to find each other.
Indeed, I saw him again in Bulgaria weeks later.
The whole point behind this bizarre tale is that I often wonder if these such encounters could be constituted as mere coincidences, tru biz fate or just . . . life?
Years ago, during the tarot reading in New Mexico, a psychic blurted out something about India only to change the subject as soon as I scoffed, "India and me, we have nothing to do with each other!"
Well, look at me now, tumbling out of India after two months. How should I explain that connection between the tarot reading and the life fact? Am I overthinking this connection?
Coincidence? Fate? Or just life?
At the Nepal-India border, Violet pointed at a young woman, whispering, "I will never dare to wear sneakers like that!"
I nodded, discreetly studying the woman's fashion choice.
Two days later, Violet pointed at the same woman, whispering, "Hey, look at that woman with the sneakers from the border!"
I nodded, discreetly studying the same woman as our rowboats passed each other on the Holy River.
Should we name this encounter a crazy coincidence? Fate? Or just life?
In Jaipur, a friend caught up with Violet and me. It was an one in a million chance that he managed to find us in the right coach on the train of over forty coaches and hundreds of passengers. We were stunned to see him running as our train began to move. I had trouble focusing on his words of warning about the train's unusual course, feeling so distorted to process the fact that he found us and that we were at the very right place to see him.
Fortunately, his astonishingly timed warning saved us from completely missing our next destination, which could have led us to totally mess up our carefully planned itinerary.
Should we call his timeliness a coincidence? Fate? Or just life?
Recently, in Krabi, Thailand, I was amazed to encounter a familiar face along with other familiar faces we've planned to see.
This time, this friend was from the United Kingdom. I've met him during Deaflympics (our Deaf answer to Olympics) and thought I will never see him again.
Obviously, I was very much mistaken.
However, this little surprise brought me back to this thought about how life works with these kinds of things.
I am hesitant to debate about coincidences, fate and life in general, mainly because I have gotten myself so confused lately with sorting life out. I have long since decided to merely call these kinds of things synchronic--or a series of connections in life that serve only to prove that life is life.
However, I could not help thinking that, with these surprising encounters, the world is a small place after all.
It could be a Deaf thing. We Deafies belong to a very small minority and are zealous about protecting our communities around the world. We passionately value our impenetrably powerful experience as Deaf individuals and feel deeply connected to others around the world, all of whom represent every shade, every color, and every meaning of this rich experience that unites us all as the Deaf people.
This kind of community is very tiny, which makes the chance of encounting the same people very likely to happen.
Yet, I have met the same random non-Deaf people again and again around the world. The chance of that kind of encounter is--or should be--insanely impossible.
Furthermore, I could not forget that psychic's mention about India.
It is very, very debatable to absolutely insist that these incidents above are just coincidences or even fate.
It is very, very easy to just smile and say everything that happens is just a part of life.
However, I've come to really enjoy the idea that the world, this lovely, lovely place we all reside in, is much smaller that we would've anticipated.
So small that we sometimes see people we thought we would never see again. So small that we are sometimes surprised by how life works things out in our favor. So small that our lives are sometimes predictable.
Yet the world is overflowing with so many things to see, to experience, and to predict. In this respect, the world is far bigger than we could even dare to imagine.
It is such a pleasant though as it is connected to the idea that we all were born somewhat connected to each other in this grand scheme of life. We all are in this life together.
For now, at this moment of wondering about life, I am enjoying seeing the world as this tiny snowglobe so easy to shake up, so easy to calm, and so easy to watch.
To be alive is to wonder.
Monkey Beach, Koh Phi Phi, Krabi,
Thailand
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