Kismet And Synchronicity

Kismet

In a previous post, Hot One In Classified, I wrote about a dice game called Kismet, a game of luck and taking a chance. This part of my family’s story leads me to the following: do you believe in kismet and synchronicity? Have you ever gotten the gut feeling that some things are just meant to be? By paying attention to my life, I learned to believe in cause and effect instead of coincidence. I think that events, whether perceived as happy or sad, have a specific purpose for taking place. I also believe that precise people and the unexpected are destined to be an influential part of your life.

Synchronicity

Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and research scientist, first coined the term “synchronicity.” He was intrigued by the supernatural and the subconscious. He is the founder of Analytical Psychology which is the interaction of the ego with the process by which a person develops into his or her “true self.”

Spiritually, synchronicity is the awareness that you are a soul and understand you are not alone during your earthly life. You believe divine guidance is available to you at all times. That divine energy is always present, and there is a cause-and-effect relationship to everything in the universe. This would be faith, prayer, and hope in the religious community.

Coincidence and synchronicity are comparable to a point. The word “coincidence” involves a series of events that happen by chance without an apparent cause. The word “synchronicity” requires a person to believe there is a deeper, perhaps predestined, meaning to the events.

A Spiritual Match

I mentioned The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield in How I Earned The Nickname Tough Cookie as one of the books that made a huge positive difference in my life. I did not realize how all my life experiences connected until I built my website and began writing my blog tales beginning with my childhood.

The memories I share today are some of the reasons I remain open to a synchronistic life journey.

From Street Kids To Parenthood

As things turned out, I got pregnant the first month we began trying! What a blissful day it turned out to be for Pete and me. It was the day we got the fantastic news that the two street kids, originally from the Chicago area, were going to be parents. “Congratulations, Mrs. Fuller. You’ve definitely been bitten by the pregnancy bug!” Those invigorating words spoken by my OB/GYN, which I had never heard before, repeated over and over again in my head.

After leaving the doctor’s office, I started to realize that the months ahead would be filled with swelling and bulging. I wondered how highly defined my usually hidden belly button would become. I wondered if I would be like one of those moms in the TV sitcoms giving birth. You know those scenes filled with the mom, eyes bulging, blaming the father for the excrutiating pain, and bellowing trashy remarks during the delivery. How quickly in the birthing process would I be screaming for drugs? The thoughts that go through a first-time mom’s head. Mercifully, those scary thoughts quickly gave way to the truly wonderful.

I vividly remember driving down the dusty dirt road into the mobile home park where we lived near the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. It was the best day ever for new beginnings.

The clear blue Southwestern sky cheered me on. I had all the car windows down, and the radio turned up. I just wanted to shout to the world that I was a mom. No one was around, but I still shared my incredible news with every prairie dog and ground owl that poked its head out of its underground home. I couldn’t wait to tell Pete and Grizzly. Griz was a cuddly Maine Coon and tabby cross stray cat that came to us scared, starving and nearly frozen on a brutal winter day when we lived in Illinois. We tried to locate the previous owner through the local animal shelter and animal humane association without success. He was a love, and I never worried for one minute that Griz “would take our baby’s breath away.”

Godfather To Father

The godfather was going to be a father. Pete took the news in his free-spirited way. That was the happiest day of our marriage, knowing our love and commitment to one another had created a life who would soon be joining our lives.

God was providing us with an opportunity to grow spiritually and become loving and nurturing parents. I believe that we are not defined by our past, but we are prepared by it. The question still lingered in my mind, however. Would both of us be wise and strong enough to learn from our childhoods and choose a healthy path different from our troubled pasts?

Expecting our baby brought renewed excitement to our aging marriage of eleven years. It was so much fun to share the news with family and friends living far from us in different states. I saved every card and letter of congratulations.

Baby Prep

My priorities became decorating the baby’s room, saving for and purchasing needed items when on sale, and creating a scrapbook so we would always remember those thoughts and feelings. The first paragraph read: “Hello, Little One. See how special you are to Dad and me. You’re not even stork-delivered yet, and you already have a book dedicated to you. This book has lots of your mom and dad’s feelings in it while we await your arrival. We always want you to know how much we wanted to have you. Hope you’ll find the following pages fun to read someday. We love you, Baby Fuller.”

Pete carefully recorded my changing body in photographs, being led by my expanding belly button, which was more highly defined than I could have imagined. I recorded every OB/GYN visit the baby and I had using great detail in the scrapbook. Pete sang Beach Boy tunes and a variety of oldies to the baby. We both put the baby on notice that he or she would need a good sense of humor because mom and dad loved to party. Thus, the name “Fun Fullers.”

The rules of the mobile home park where we resided required that we move our trailer from the Adult Section to the Family Section when I got pregnant. We moved our home the summer before our baby’s due date. Pete and I enjoyed getting our place back in order and making room for Mary Kate. I was sure a girl was on the way.

The happiness bond was strengthening between us and replacing a past often stuck in conflict, poor or non-existent communication, and emotional distance. We always struggled financially. Even though we were both hardworking, our monthly income required us to live in a minimalistic way.

The time Pete and I spent fixing up the baby’s room, building a back porch on our trailer, and planting a vegetable garden gave us a break from our survival worries and brought us great joy and relaxation. The power of babies in our world.

The Jitters

Most of the time, I just loved shopping for Baby Fuller things. There were moments, however, when I used to look at those teensy shirts and socks and worry about how I would ever dress such a fragile little person without breaking a sweat or an arm or a leg! How will I know if the baby is sick and needs to go to the pediatrician or the emergency room? What if I fall asleep while breastfeeding and crush my loved one? What if the baby is born prematurely and has problems? How will Pete handle being a father? What if I am a terrible mother? Will I be able to do this by myself since all our family members live far away? What if I bring on labor just stressing myself out with the what-ifs?

The unknowns of giving birth and being a mom for the first time genuinely scared me. At the same time, the anticipation brought me great joy knowing I finally made it to my one true purpose in this life.

Secret Surprise

One special shopping event clued me in on how excited Pete was about Dadhood. We had found a blond maple crib we wanted but could not afford. The week before Christmas, Pete called me from work to tell me that the store where we saw the crib was having a huge “Scratch and Dent” sale. He called me and said he was coming home on his lunch hour to take me there. Pete explained there was a chance that the crib we liked might be on sale for a price we could afford.

I did not know that Pete had secretly taken the antique slot machine given to him by a family member and sold it a couple of days before to have the money to buy the crib. There was no Scratch and Dent sale. I was so surprised when we got to the store, and Pete whipped out the cash for the crib, mattress, matching comforter, and sheets right on the spot! My husband’s thoughtfulness and boyish excitement to buy that crib and bedding for our baby was the best Christmas present ever.

Fun Fuller Reindeer

That same Christmas, Pete made three of the most adorable wooden reindeer with red blinking noses in Mom, Dad, and Baby sizes. Our neighbors got the biggest kick out of them. Those little reindeer remained a Fun Fuller tradition, year after year. Once they appeared blinking away on the porch, the neighborhood knew the holiday spirit was alive and well in The House of Fuller.

Finally, I was going to have a family of my own. There would be no yelling. There would be no pinching, slapping, or hitting. No one would be invisible or uncelebrated. There would be no alcoholism. There would be fun, peace, and happiness. Life was nearing perfection.

Tough Cookie Tip: A child’s life is a miraculous gift from God. As a parent, how you care for and guide that child is your gift to God. Other words used to define Kismet is “what is written in the stars.” Celestine means “heavenly.” Kismet and synchronicity for me continue to navigate the healing through writing and the ability to keep moving forward.

Copyright © 2022-2025 Marilyn K Fuller. All Rights Reserved.

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