how i think of it is that the mind sometimes gets overzealous trying to spot patterns and assigns all kinds of significance to coincidence. however i have heard some interesting talk of "attractors" - end scenarios that might seem to coax themselves into existence by "pulling" their "causes" towards themselves through time and space - a funny way to model fate from our perception of time.
regarding things seeming to be given to you while you were creating, i too find it interesting that we are given credit for our "creations" when we are actually handed them from our subconscious. i visualize it as a brick wall with some small holes in it, and i - the conscious spectator am handed little scrolls of paper with ideas written on them through these little holes from the other side of the wall. i get to marvel at them, or reject them, or try and group some of them together and hand them back thru the wall for further processing - so it seems like i'm the editor or conductor, but not the actual idea generator. then again - why only define myself as that which is conscious - unconscious can be beautiful too :) its all me. especially if i'm a solipsist... :D