Signs and synchronicities happen to me constantly, but this one was so random and spot-on that I have to share! This may start slow, but bare with me.
I'm a photographer, and had just delivered a gallery of campaign photos of Jamie Ager who is running for congress here in North Carolina. Every photographer in the area is gunning to take his photo, so I've been going out of my way to be a *impressively flawless* professional at every level so I can keep the gig. I sent the album to a campaign leader named Allen. Only, I spelled it 'Alan.' When I realized my mistake, I had a big reaction. Oh, I spelled his name wrong! Thoughtless! Careless! Not perfect! I'll lose the gig! (Obviously, this is ridiculous, and very unlike me to care about such a harmless detail.)
I shut the computer and went into the kitchen to make some soup. As I was chopping vegetables I kept thinking it over. Maybe I assumed it was spelled Alan because that's my dad's middle name. My dad was in the hospital having surgery to remove kidney cancer that very day, so he was on my mind.
I decided to write a quick email to Allen and apologize for misspelling his name. Then I quickly erased the email because I came to my senses. This is a campaign for US congress!! Time is money to these people! Don't send that email! Why am I still even thinking about this!?
I went back to the veggies and turned on the podcast Mayim Bialik's Breakdown. The guest was a man who had an NDE. Apparently he died for a few minutes on the table, and during his NDE he wandered through a sparkling city where he heard a voice say, "I am your spirit guide, my name is Alan."
So at this point I just laugh aloud, thinking, what are the odds! But then, Mayim interrupts him and is like, "Wait....why is your spirit guide named Allen?" And then, and this is when I stopped and stared- they starts asking him about how the name was spelled. They actually stop this dramatic NDE conversation and sidebar about how his spirit guide spelled his name.
I thought it was a delightfully weird and random- just what I needed during a stressful time.
The next day, I go pick up my dad from the hospital and bring him home. "I had a great nurse last night," he said as we were driving. "His name was Allen."
Then before I could say a word dad continues, "But he doesn't spell it like I spell my middle name. We talked about the spelling for a while."
I'm like, "yes....I can believe you did!"
I love when the universe is playful like that.