Happy Tuesday! As you may remember from last week, all of my posts this month reveal how synchronicity led me to become an economist. So, here’s part 2… (To read part 1 and learn how synchronicity introduced me to economics, click this sentence ).
During the spring semester of my freshman year at Scripps College, I enrolled in a pre-calculus class. The class was progressing quite uneventfully until our third exam. Two weeks before the exam, I spoke with my professor to make sure that the disability accommodations I needed to take the exam were in place.
After the professor assured me that everything was all set, she asked, “Do you know what you want to major in?”
“I’m thinking about economics, but I’m not sure yet,” I replied.
“You should consider majoring in mathematical economics. It’s very similar to the economics major. The only difference is you’ll take two fewer economics courses and four more math courses. What do you think?”
“I hadn’t thought about taking that much math,” I said.
“Then you should think about it. You’re quite good at math and women who have a background in mathematics command higher salaries. Given the extra expenses that come with having a disability, the extra income that you’d earn from having a strong background in math would be useful to you. Look up the major in the course catalog. If you have any questions, let me know.”
I immediately went to my dorm room, looked up the requirements for majoring in mathematical economics(Math Econ) and was daunted by what I read. Students majoring in economics took one semester of calculus. Math Econ majors took three semesters of calculus plus linear algebra and differential equations.
As someone who had never taken a calculus class and who had no idea what made an equation differential, I was less than certain that majoring in Math Econ was a good idea. I was still unsure about majoring in economics period.
However, I remembered how hesitant I was to take economics in high school and I ended up loving it. I pondered the situation and came up with a game plan. First, I’d take an economics class at Scripps to see if I actually liked college-level economics. If I did like it, then I’d take my first semester of calculus. If I liked calculus, then I’d take the leap and declare myself a Math Econ major.
During my second year of college, I enrolled in my first college-level economics course. By the second class, one thing was abundantly clear… I was created, in part, to major in economics! I loved learning college-level economic theories and applying economic models to real world issues.
The next semester, I enrolled in my first semester of calculus. I had heard so many horror stories about how hard calculus was that I was pretty nervous for the first day of class. On my way to class, I just kept telling myself that all I had to do was my best and everything else would take care of itself. I didn’t need to be a calculus genius, after all.
About fifteen minutes into the professor’s lecture on the first day of class, I wondered, “Is this it?!?! You have GOT to be kidding me. This is relatively easy. Sure, I have new rules to memorize and new symbols to learn, but this is no harder than any other math class I’ve taken!” I decided right there that I was in fact a Mathematical Economics major!
Although I wasn’t completely sure about majoring in Math Econ when my professor first mentioned it to me, I was open to taking the first step on the path of majoring in Math Econ. After taking the first step, everything unfolded to show me that majoring in Math Econ was the best path for me.
Sometimes, all synchronicity needs to reveal our path to us is our openness. Since synchronicity is the energy of love, when we open ourselves to synchronicity, we invite love to come into every nook and cranny of our lives and propel us to a joy that we didn’t know was possible.
Love, blessings and purple,
Allison
You can do this exercise as often as you like this week. If you need modifications to the practice, scroll down to the section titled Access Notes.
Expressing Gratitude For Synchronicity
This week’s exercise builds upon last week’s exercise. So, grab your list from last week. Set a timer for between 2 and 5 minutes and say why you are grateful for each synchronicity on your list. When doing this exercise, feel gratitude at the deepest level of your being.
The following modifications are intended to create equal access to the spiritual practice above. These modifications are somewhat general to be as useful as possible to as many people as possible. Please feel free to further tweak the exercise as needed so that you can participate as fully as possible while honoring your body’s needs.
1. If you did not write down a list of synchronicities, that’s okay. Do your best to remember 1 or 2 synchronicities from your list.
2. If you did not write down a list of synchronicities last week and you cannot remember any synchronicities you thought of, think of a few new synchronicities to express gratitude for.
3. If your primary language is sign language, instead of verbally saying why you are grateful, sign why you’re grateful.
4. If you want to express gratitude for synchronicities and you are unable to speak and you don’t use sign language to communicate, try the following modifications and see which one works best for you. Set a timer for between 2 and 5 minutes. Feel gratitude while you either
a. Think about why you are grateful for each synchronicity that you experienced, OR
b. Write down or type out why you are grateful for each synchronicity.
5. If you want to type/write why you are grateful for each synchronicity and typing/writing is slow or otherwise challenging, instead of writing/typing complete sentences, type/write one or two words that sum up each reason you are grateful ( for example, instead of typing “ I’m grateful for this synchronicity because it made me laugh,” write or type “laughter.” Instead of writing “This synchronicity makes me thankful because it made my life easier,” write or type “ease.”).
