Be A Rainbow
BY KRISTINA DRAGNEA, Registered Psychotherapist
Hi! I’m Kristina. I am a mother, a life partner, a sister, and among other things, a psychotherapist here at Mindful Maelstrom.
I wanted to share a profound story depicting the magic of synchronicities with you. But first, let me lead you on a journey exploring why these magical events are so important to notice.
Synchronicities - a term coined by Carl Jung in 1930 - are meaningful coincidences that, when noticed, affirm our paths to psychological wholeness. He believed that they reflect deep psychological processes from our unconscious worlds that provide meaning and guidance to our waking life - much like the way dreams carry messages to us in our sleep.
Imagine, for example, a time that you were deeply conflicted about changing careers, and a clumsy bystander tripped over your toes and revealed a Nike tattoo on their back reading "Just do it."
...Or a time you found yourself in a romantic relationship that felt fine for the most part, but you couldn’t help but feel some unexplained worry or concern for your wellbeing around this person. Then one day, your significant other's backpack falls off the counter to reveal a patch that reads "proceed with caution.”
Both of these accounts are true, by the way - chronicles from my own journey.
So why does this matter you ask? Well, the unpredictable and seemingly chaotic times we currently face tend to send people into frenzies of anxiety when they try to manage things that are not within their control. Imagine now how incredibly accessible these “meaningful coincidences” around us can be in helping us to align with the things that we do have control over.
Now, onto my story…
The other day, my eldest daughter and I were driving to get groceries when we started talking about our life dreams and aspirations. Questions were raised and pondered that brought us to an important lesson: when people insist that “it can’t be done,” they are merely stating their own limitations. She felt hopeful considering this notion, and soon after, we drove by a magnificent piece of art drawn in chalk by a bright little human reading “Be a Rainbow!”
So the next time you need to be reassured, realigned, or are simply seeking a bit more control in your life, take a breath, look around, and open yourself to your intuition and the synchronicities present!Send us your synchronistic stories - We'd love to hear from you!
Kristina received an Honours B.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Toronto, and a Masters of Counselling Psychology from the University of Calgary. She completed a practicum internship at York University’s Student Counselling Services, where she was supervised in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy, Group Therapy, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, and crisis counselling. Kristina has also completed training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and other various techniques. She is registered to practice psychotherapy with the Ontario College of Registered Psychotherapists (CRPO) and continues to receive regular mentorship from a clinical psychologist who provides her with knowledge, advice, and an outside perspective on her work.
Kristina has worked with individuals suffering with mild to severe brain injury resulting from motor vehicle accidents. Therapy is tailored to address issues such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Somatic Disorders, Adjustment Disorders, Anxiety and Depressive Disorders.