Why would Antigone come up twice in one hour?
Or Chaucer, for that matter.
Yesterday, I was relaxing, reading Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies. The main character decided to write an opera about Oedipus’s daughter Antigone. While reading, one of my brothers sent me a text about Chaucer (as brothers tend to do, am I right? No? Just mine?). I replied and then decided I needed to see Conan O’Brien’s turn on “Hot Ones” because I had heard that it was insane (it was). Conan mentioned Chaucer. Then I went to watch my favorite detective show from New Zealand and there was a character named Antigone James.
So, I googled all of that.
“Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde and Antigone, while not directly related, share a similar thematic focus on the role of women and their influence in shaping men’s destinies.”
Huh? Color me curious.
We tend to oversimplify curiosity. If we want to know something, we can immediately look it up. But don’t let Google’s answer satisfy you.
Curiosity is complex, mutating, unpredictable, and transformational. It’s not about finding an answer as much as it is about finding connections between ourselves, others, and the world. Curiosity wants that kernel of truth along with everything you encounter along the way.
I love synchronicities. I even keep a journal of them. I have at least one entry every day. Some of them make me laugh. Most of them make me think.
We may look to spiritual leaders (or Google) for answers, but meaning only comes from our digging deep, by our staying curious.
Should I read some Chaucer? Or some Greek tragedies? Should I explore women’s role in shaping men’s destinies? Maybe. Or maybe I should stay curious and see what the next synchronicity is and add that to the mix.
What I get out of a string of coincidences and what you discover from the same string will be vastly different.
But when we stay curious and follow the thread all the way to the end, we’ll uncover depths of truth and meaning that can lead us to spiritual growth.
