“I’m here today with a collection of cards that I’ve found over the last 20 years on the streets of different cities around the world. On a backpacking trip through Europe in 1995 is when I first realized that these cards generally appear around pivotal life moments, such as changes in career, relationships, breakthroughs etc.

I remember this one card I found in Spain vividly. That same day I had been dumped by my girlfriend at the time. It was a pivotal moment in my life because it opened my eyes to what was in front of me and all that was about to unfold.

I’ve always written the date and location on the cards to track where and when I find them. One day, a mathematician friend of mine recommended that we chart them to see if there were any patterns to be found. Sure enough there was. On several occasions I had found the same exact card on the same exact day years in a row, and in some cases, every other year.

That freaked me out in a cosmic kind of way, but made me realize that for me, this was more than just a random hoarder habit. I stopped charting them, but I do still collect the cards, and now it’s a nice surprise when I find them. It reminds me to slow down, evaluate the current state of my life, and take note of where things are at.”