El poder de la coincidencia/ The Power of Coincidence

by David Richo

Meaningful coincidences and surprising connections occur all the time in our daily lives, yet we often fail to appreciate how they can guide us, warn us, and confirm us on our life's path. This book explores how meaningful coincidence operates in our daily lives, in our intimate relationships, and in our creative endeavors.The Power of Coincidence will help you interpret a series of similar happenings, open yourself to assisting forces around you, understand how your dreams can guide you through life events, use your creative imagination in life choices—and live in accord with your deepest needs and wishes, as revealed to you by meaningful coincidences. Originally published under the title Unexpected Miracles, the author has fully revised and updated the book for this edition.

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Philosophy, Personal Growth, Ebooks

237 pages, Paperback

First published March 27, 2007

About the author

David Richo, PhD, is a therapist and author who leads popular workshops on personal and spiritual growth.

He received his BA in psychology from Saint John's Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, in 1962, his MA in counseling psychology from Fairfield University in 1969, and his PhD in clinical psychology from Sierra University in 1984. Since 1976, Richo has been a licensed marriage, family, and child counselor in California. In addition to practicing psychotherapy, Richo teaches courses at Santa Barbara City College and the University of California Berkeley at Berkeley, and has taught at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, Pacifica Graduate Institute, and Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. He is a clinical supervisor for the Community Counseling Center in Santa Barbara, California.

Known for drawing on Buddhism, poetry, and Jungian perspectives in his work, Richo is the author of How to Be an Adult in Relationships: The Five Keys to Mindful Lovingand The Five Things We Cannot Change: And the Happiness We Find in Embracing Them. He has also written When the Past Is Present: Healing the Emotional Wounds that Sabotage our Relationships, Shadow Dance: Liberating the Power and Creativity of Your Dark Side, The Power of Coincidence: How Life Shows Us What We Need to Know, and Being True to Life: Poetic Paths to Personal Growth.

Richo lives in Santa Barbara and San Francisco.

Reviews

[Katia M. Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have always held the belief that all things happen for a reason, even bad things. This is one of the reasons I decided to read this book. I also wanted something I could knock off in an afternoon and this seemed short enough for that.

Unfortunately I found it a little to spiritual for my taste. I am sure that people with a strong spiritual background would find this book enlightening or reassuring. I did find some aspects interesting, such as psychological discussions of mindfulness, however the Jungian philosophy and extreme inclusion of quotes from Shakespeare to Dickinson put me off. If I want to explore how synchronicity affects me, the last person I want to listen to is Emily Dickinson! So this book may be good for some, but it didn't do it for me.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

How many ways can someone adore, admire and cherish a piece of written work? Let me do so in my short review:

This book is 183 pages of masterful writing. Richo's text allows space within the reader's mind to push for a deeper awareness of Self. In fact, if you just take one thing from this book, read Chapter 5: Fate vs Destiny. Brilliant.

His nuanced writing style invoked my desire to be a better, more caring self-analyst and a better writer, overall. As such, I've decided to read more of Richo's books and additional text regarding Jungian psychology.

I humbly suggest that everyone that is able to make time to read this book.

[Mihai Rosca · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a strange mix between Alan Watts, Eckhart Tolle and several other, but without having their appeal or without being that convincing, even without making that much sense.
When Richo talks about the Trickster, I hear Allan Watts and his talks, yet without making the perspective so fluent.
When he talks about the bigger self and acceptance I hear Eckhart Tolle without being that much convincing.
When he talks about initiation and dreams I hear Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, both of which are also quite quoted in the book.
When he talks about finding hope in getting involved in the community's and the world's problems I hear Ken Robinson and others, but without the English charm.

I got some pretty good eye openers from the book and it made me question some serious things but I definitely don't like the fact that the good things are wrapped in tons of of bad writing. The book isn't written in a language that's accessible to everyone and there are a lot of phrases that don't make sense or are extremely confusing. I read a translated version so that was my experience, perhaps the original version is different.
Even so, the way it's been written can't be hidden. Richo is a very well read man and has some good knowledge to share to the world, but unfortunately he lacks the fluency of a good writer.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

im in the middle of the book. fairly deep stuff.

[Mica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book and found so many parts profound that I would just have to pause and sit and hold the book and savor the thought.

[Devika Koppikar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing book that really helped me examine my triumphs and struggles in perspective. At times, you feel overwhelmed...thinking that every encounter, every incident has a higher purpose, but overall, it is very uplifting.

[Marianne Mullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did really appreciate a great deal in this book. Got me thinking and I liked the questions for further exploration that were given. It was very much Jungian and a bit too much at times, but it did open me to think more about the relationship of psychology and spirituality which I always enjoy.

[Mary Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book at the right time -- Synchronicity at work -- will read again

[Mai · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an amazing and inspiring book! This come as a revelation to me that We are always taken care of by the divine power of this universe which is God that we are always guided to fulfill our best potential,to follow our destiny that will lead to our happiness ,success and prosperity if we just let life unfold the way it meant to be ,if we just let it flow and become aware of the signs that shapes our destiny every day ,then it turns out that nothing is really a coincidence,that was an "Aha moment" for me
The power of coincidence or synchronicity is the way the universe pokes you to be aware of the signs which unfolds your destiny or life plan ,also the author talked about the power of dreams and their interpretation ,both synchronicity and dreams are tools to unravel the mystery of the future and life really shows us what we need to know if we just pay attention and become more aware
Highly recommend it

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. David Richo has a wider understanding of synchronicity than other authors I've come across so I found this book very interesting.

[Margy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some useful nuggets but a very heavy book

[Cam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first third or so of this book is something I would absolutely give to writing students interested on interdisciplinary perspectives on meaning-making! I think that this book, in answering questions about meaning, also works to answer questions of purpose and inspiration for writers -- plus it's a handy read! You can tell the author is knowledge and doesn't like to stray far from truth and reason, even when handling questions of existentialism. Towards the end of the book, I start feeling like the examples become less grounded and I begin to lose the purpose. Maybe that's just me, but I felt lost a few times. For example, the book insists that we should work hard to imagine worlds outside of our own in verse, but in form and content the book doesn't seem to be able to imagine anything outside itself and its close contemporaries. Very little regard is paid to perspectives outside of niche corners of academia, which contributes to the random feel of the some of the examples. Non-Western perspectives are actually explicitly excluded, which feels near-sighted and dismissive to me. I find that when authors and scholars explicitly exclude non-Western voices, they tend to end up with loose arguments that have little clout in a world much larger than the United States. Further, the text jumps topics from meaning in everyday life to specific translations of dreams into spirituality without much scaffolding or rationale before doing something that feels more like dissolving than concluding, though I find that the poetry that appears towards the end of the text to be topical and even parallel to some of the larger themes, which is pretty fun!
A lot of this book is useful for introduction to the construct of meaning-making, but feels closed-off and disjointed when dissecting rationale and theory. I enjoyed thinking about expansion outside of the self, but I didn't see that principle reflected in the rest of the notions of the text.

[Izyyy84 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Susi Dorigoni · Rating 2 out of 5]

In sintesi: La sincronicità è il modo in cui l’universo comunica con te. Ascolta, osserva e fidati del viaggio.

[Michaela · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were some gems in here but unfortunately they were buried amidst the dreck of superstition and Jungian philosophy which strikes me as dubious. Too bad as many things were interesting just from a historical perspective. But I feel the message of being open to opportunities presented by the universe was lost.

[Debbie Lamperd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the first books I ever read that introduced me to the concept of synchronicity. A concept that there is no such thing as coincidence, everything has a deeper, greater meaning than what lies above the surface. Such was the impact of this concept and this book that I have went on to write my own book around this concept. A highly recommended read by David Richo.

[Neil Liddell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking look at meaningful coincidences. When you look back at past events you do begin to realise that, whether good or bad, they actually take you to a better place where wisdom is gained. Good read

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good follow-up book to "When the Past is Present" by Richo. Slow reading because it's loaded with great information and insights.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to take this one in spots. It was bit windy; however, the substance was good. Would have liked it more, if was tightened up.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took awhile to get started, but it was worth it. There are quite a few gems in this book, depth psychotherapy at its best.

[Timothy Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazingly insightful book by David Richo, well worth the read.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. A good reminder that there are no coincidences and that everything that happens to us is for our spiritual growth.

[Siva Ranjan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even bad things happen for a reason... so that you can appreciate goodness when you receive it. Hopefully my next book is a good one to compensate for this.

[Aliya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts were insightful. Worth the read

[Gabriela Pistol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great idea, but the best thing about the book is quoting Jung.

[Rebecca Tolley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stopped reading this because it seemed like a reiteration of his previous work with scanty content on coincidence itself. Probably a good read if it's your first Richo book.