The train from Stuttgart sped along the late winter tracks as the grey light weighed down on me. Sitting in a six-person compartment with a man preoccupied with his iPhone, I wondered if I was making the right decision to set my sights on Freiburg as my new home.

Just as the cacophony in my head grew to a feverish pitch, the man looked up at me as if on cue and said in a thick accent:

“Man, I miss my home!”

I asked him where he was from, trying to guess by his accent that it might have been somewhere East of Germany.

“Freiburg!” his eyes grew bright as he waxed poetic about his beloved town he’s called home for 32 years. He had fled Albania with his uncle during the Communist regime and while he had tried to move away from Freiburg several times, the place just kept calling him back.

In that moment, I knew there were forces beyond my comprehension that were moving me there. That conversation was a pivotal moment I would never forget.

How could I thank this stranger who, in his own bright beauty, had given me the key to my future?

I had a chance to do that today.

Walking along my street, I heard a voice that sounded vaguely familiar. As I  strode by the group of people standing outside the mobile phone store, I recognized the man instantly. It was iPhone guy from the train! Three months later I had the opportunity to thank him for his kindness. He remembered me as well, smiling and beaming at me in that way only a person in love with life can.

At a music festival just yesterday I ran into a friend of a friend that I recognized on Facebook who was exhibiting his photography. Yet again I got the chance to connect with the miracles that life has to offer.

Synchronicities come when we are open, listening, and aware of what is happening beneath the surface of things. It is the Universe speaking to us.

It wants our best. It truly does.