Wade-
Long response here, sorry. Some meat on the bone with this topic.
Very cool write up and in many ways I think we're on the same page or at least in the same chapter of the same book. I've written reams of material for my own benefit never to see the light of day (and you can all be thankful for that) just to get my head around things. I love to write. For many years I kept notebooks and had a chronicle of my handwritten thoughts going back decades. Then one day I stuffed them all in the wood stove and felt much relieved by that for reasons that are hard to explain. I've shared bits and pieces of some things here - Dr.Weaver our family ghost, ghost hunting in PA, the nascent ufologist and so forth.
I listened to an episode of The Unexplained with Howard Hughes which - I think - is #268. Professor Caroline Watt, Koestler Chair of Parapsychology University of Edinburgh that really had my attention. Man, what a funsnatcher. Essentially she can show that certain coincidences that seem unusual to us are far more statistically likely than we might think. She also applied some of that to a 'haunted' castle - the episode, assuming that's the right one, is worth listening to. Having listened to a Paracast interview I bought Dr.Kirby Surprise's Synchronicity: The Art of Coincidence, Choice, and Unlocking Your Mind. He writes abut how our eyes physically perceive things, seek patterns, his personal synchronicities and how he learned to embrace them, Jung's archetypes. Was real good then he took a left turn into woo-woo and lost me. Still worth a couple of bucks.
Despite being largely skeptical and not prone to hyperbole I still can't help but think that there is something to this. It's one thing to believe in science, it's another to have such a strong science belief you narrow your viewpoint e.g. "that can't possibly be." Maybe to examine it to closely is to ruin it, you just have to be open to it and try to filter the ordinary from the extraordinary. Not hang on too tight - sort of like why drunks tend to survive auto accidents that kill sober people. "Show me" is, IMO, a reasonable approach.
As I've said before I feel there is something just out of reach, like if I turn around very quickly I might catch something - what I don't know. Santa was always watching you know, and frankly that creeped me out. Today we'd label him a pedophile. In the end belief in these things is fairly benign and I take them as they come, and out of necessity interpret them as I see fit. "One man’s coincidence is another man’s synchronicity"
Why praying mantis? I'm with you there - WTF? Like I said, better them than turkey vultures. Glad he showed up again at any rate.
A couple of things from what you wrote.
"I spend a lot of time contemplating such concepts as cause and effect, chance,choice, chaos theory, free will" 10-4
"I pay A LOT more attention to my intuition" Agreed. I've found my gut instinct is usually correct even if it's hard to quantify.
"And I even question whether synchronicity qualifies as a paranormal event" Yup.
"many synchronistic experiences happen during periods of transformation" Perhaps we're more open to them then, or more willing to interpret them with some significance. That's what prompted this thread.
" I don’t really spend a lot of time acquainting myself about some of the more famous events or people in the field"
OK, this is a bit off topic, but me too. What qualifies someone as an expert in Weird Shit? I have always been interested in this stuff but Life Intervenes and it's only recently that I've really had the time and interest to circle back around and indulge myself. I can't believe how little much of it has changed. The pararoyalty - meaning the minor celebrity names we hear so often in this field just rub me the wrong way sometimes. I really don't think being utterly steeped in the literature, often old and dusty, necessarily helps. Might actually skew the perceptions of someone who is uninitiated but interested. A quick example - I read Ruppelt's book, second edition, and thought "well, that just about explains it." Not being closed mined here - just able to interpret what is self serving from what isn't. Mostly.
Finally, again sorry for going on this long, materialism. Eeeeeeee I cringed when I read that because I have posted pictures on this forum of cars, guns, motorcycles and thought "Oh crap how crass do I seem?" All I can offer - not that anyone has asked me to - is that my collar is very blue and anything I have I have worked my ass off for. Materialism isn't about what you have I think, it's more about why you have it. If it serves your interest and gives you pleasure for your own private reasons I think it's OK,. If you collect piles of shit just to impress others it isn't. I wish I could introduce you to an acquaintance that has yet to figure that out - what he thinks is impressive is actually kind of sad. Not my job to explain it to him. We're all on our own path here - maybe these weird synchronicities are part of that to those who are open to them. I think we should all learn from our experiences and try to leave a light touch.