Sunday, September 29, 2013

Is it a sign or a coincidence?

How many times have you thought about a person only to have the phone ring and that very person is on the other end? How often have you had a song pop into your head then turn on the radio and hear it playing? Or come across a bit of information that keeps crossing your path over and over? Is it a sign or is it a coincidence?

I never really believed in signs. Always the cynic, I tend to believe that the theory of probability is working in these instances. I lean towards the scientific explanation that signs are merely patterns that we are hard-wired to recognize. But something happened this week to cause me to question my skepticism.

I was at a complete loss as to where to next take my Hubert search when suddenly a light  bulb went off inside my head as I gazed at Hubert's distinctive signture. I had this crazy notion that maybe this signature could hold the key to information about Hubert's identity - information that perhaps a handwriting expert could unleash.

Immediately I went online to research handwriting experts and, as with everything Hubert related, this was not as easy as it sounds. I found scores of handwriting analysts, graphologists, and document examiners, but I had no idea who would be the most qualified advisor. I did find, coincidentally, an article posted about " A French Love Affair With Graphology." It seems that worldwide the use of handwriting analysis in the workforce is minimal EXCEPT in France where the last study done in 1991 found that 91% of French companies were utilizing handwriting analysis for job recruitment. Maybe the technique is so popular there because, again coincidentally, the study of handwriting originated in France by a French priest, Jean-Hipployte Michon. Yes, coincidences for sure that my Hubert search has continuously led me back to France but then again, my brain has been circuited to identify any and all data associated with Hubert. These coincidences were, unfortunately, all that I could zero in on while attempting to locate a reputable handwriting expert. This crazy notion of mine was going to require further investigation and a deeper dive into the world of graphology.

The very next day while at work I just happened to have a conversation with a lovely, bright, and articulate woman who has come into the office on occasion and with whom I've had brief but very pleasant exchanges. It turns out that this very lovely woman is a bona fide graphologist! What are the chances that a certified handwriting analyst should come into my life at the exact moment I was seeking one out? Am I seeing a sign where it doesn't exist? I don't think so. If something is too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence then it's not a coincidence - it must be a sign.  A sign of what? I'm not quite sure yet but perhaps when Hubert's signature is analyzed I'll have a better idea. Until then I'm convinced of the truth in William S. Burrough's words "In the magical universe there are no coincidences and there are no accidents. Nothing happens unless someone wills it to happen."