When I was in fourth grade, I left a pair of scissors out on top of one of those unflattering class portraits.

Lo and behold, the most miraculous sign revealed itself to me. One eye of the scissors looped around my photographed face and the other eye landed right on the face of my absolute soul mate crush, who we can call Joe. If the scissors were open, in a particular but, of course, natural orientation, it lined up perfectly.

This is when I was reassured, even certain, that we were truly meant to be—it didn’t matter that Joe avoided my gaze or aimed the dodgeball straight at my best friend in gym class quite consistently.

Also, our birthdays were two days apart—I loved the number “two” for its egalitarian symbology and eternal quest for pairing. The name of his street had two syllables, as well as the name of my street. His house number was the square root of mine. Also, we both loved the color blue.

Do we belong together? History could say no. Or that, perhaps, we missed our opportunity for love.

You think that you’ll grow out of looking for signs that your relationship is one of destiny. But, if you take a look into your inner life, or the lives of your loved ones, you’ll find that even the most cynical of us are always searching for signs.

I interviewed 10 friends to collect a sample of these fingerprints of destiny. If you’re looking for more ways to trace little mystical connections in an otherwise mundane life, this list is for you.

1. You have matching moles on the middle knuckle of your left hand.
2. Your veins make an “M” on your hands, which is the first letter of his name.
3. When you think of them, they text you. You think of them often, too.
4. Their first name starts with the same letter as all your past lovers.
5. All your past lovers’ first names go in alphabetical order, but skip one letter and your current lover’s first name starts with that one missing one.
6. You were both born on the same phase of the moon—the waning crescent—which was also how the moon was on the night you met, and on the eve that you discovered this (the odds are one in 21,952).
7. You both love grapes.
8. You went to the same karate school as kids, but had different belt colors.
9. An old crush had a dream that you sold her kale and then called you for the first time in nine years. You do not sell kale, but have recently planted some.
10. You both believe in astral travel and that you met before, quite far away.
11. You like the same brand of coffee.
12. You and his mother both love lilacs.
13. She had no problem applying anti-fungal cream to your bum-hole; it was the second date.
14. You were in a photograph together before you ever knew each other. He is scratching his head next to his buff friend at the bottom of a hill, and you are in the upper right hand cover at the top of the hill having a picnic.
15. You have the same middle name, but in different languages.
16. A psychic told you you’d marry someone in the next two years who is a twin—and he has a twin.
17. He uses the same aftershave your grandpa used to use.
18. Your great grandfathers fought in the same regiment in WWII.
19. Your great grandfathers fought on opposing sides in WWII.
20. The highway exit of her house is the same as your birthday.
21. You obsessively watched the same niche YouTube videos in high school (for example: Andy McKee and Sungha Jung).
22. You’re both learning Portuguese on Duolingo.
23. According to four out of five apps, you have compatible astrology.
24. You saw a deer an hour before you met them.
25. Both your love languages are quality time.
26. You both read the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and secretly loved it.
27. You’re both grossed out by sharing toothbrushes.
28. You both have strange bowel movements. And are fascinated by them.
29. Only fate could have brought you to this random café at the same moment as them.
30. Only fate could have kept you apart until the very moment you met.
31. Only fate could have made you fall in love when you thought you’d never love again.

While gathering these points, many friends also said, “Well, there were a lot of signs that we were not meant to be.” But, that is a long list for a different post.

~