I Spy Angel Numbers
a guide to playing and winning the Angel Number Game
Interiority Decorating is a publication that explores how we furnish our minds and the world around us to live more creative, whimsical, & resonant lives. Every month of 2026, I plan to focus my storytelling around a centralized topic — inspecting it from multiple surfaces, angles, and modes of thought. Always injecting something personal, but always considering our collective experience.
This story is part of my January series on creativity and alignment: reconnecting, nourishing, and sustaining it throughout the new year.
If you know me, my writing, or simply found this corner of the internet, your algorithm has likely exposed you to angel numbers by now... But I want to take that exposure a step further, and broaden your understanding of the magic and meaning these numbers hold. My mom would honestly love that I’m espousing this knowledge, as she lived her life believing deeply in the power of numerology.
If you’ve ever noticed 12:12 on the clock, or 444 on a taxi, let me tell you how meaningful these moments are, and how you can use them to actively answer open questions or guide you through any uncertainty.
Angel Numbers in Time
The way I was first introduced to angel numbers (and I imagine many of you reading might resonate with this) was through time.
11:11 on the clock, even 10:10. 1:11, 2:22, you name it. Any sequence of repeating numbers became a magic moment if you caught them in the reflection of your phone screen or elsewhere.
Every time I saw these numbers, and usually in the presence of my mother, we’d make a wish.
It was the numerical equivalent of finding an eyelash: an unexpected reminder to put energy towards your desires — releasing them into the universe in the hopes that some ethereal entity would catch and respond by fulfilling your dreams.
It became a fun game. Tiny moments of magic and manifestation. I can’t remember exactly when I started noticing angel numbers, but I know that I’ve never stopped clocking them. I relish in the “pokemon gotta catch em all” gamification of it, often sending timestamped proof to some friends that I got one and am thinking of them. Sometimes my friend Lily and I catch them at the same time, and it’s a little virtual treat to know that we’re both reporting live in real time despite being miles or cities apart.
Angel Numbers in the Wild
After years of noticing angel numbers in time, I started to see them in the wild. Adorning doorframes. In phone numbers. On advertisements.
At first, it was just another mode of entertainment. A fun moment of, “huh, would ya look at that?” An excuse to take a photo and capture the serendipity to send to a friend.
But in these past few months, I’ve been seeing the same angel numbers over and over again, even in different cities. I started to wonder if there was a deeper meaning to the specific angel numbers I spied, beyond just the amusement of seeing repeating numbers in sequence and frequency.
Decoding Angel Numbers
There are a few charts floating around the internet that decode angel numbers, and this is the one I’ve chosen to screenshot and refer back to when I need a refresher for what each particular sequence means.
My Cheat Sheet:
111 = new beginnings
222 = trusting that new, aligned opportunities are on their way
333 = support from spirit guides to make necessary change
444 = protection from spirit guides, surrender & trust
555 = major change is coming
666 = reflect and refocus
777 = breakthrough coming
888 = abundance
999 = chapter ending, let go what no longer serves you
1010 = confirmation that you’re on the right path
1111 = make a wish
1212 = good luck
It dawned on me to familiarize myself with these meanings when I was home in Miami this past December. I had flown down for Thanksgiving, and stayed through to exhibit Color Rx during Art Week in early December. During that trip, I kept seeing 777. First near my dad’s apartment, and then twice while in the car with my crush who had flown down to support me at my art show.
I immediately searched the meaning, and I immediately interpreted it as a positive signal of this budding romance. The google search yielded:
777 points to the potential of you heading in a new direction in your life, experiencing things you haven’t yet. Your whole life could level-up because of it.
Angel numbers, like 777 angel number meaning twin flame, can be a message of reassurance, comfort, and guidance and can also be a powerful symbol of hope.
Twin flame?! Say less. I felt validated and guided.
On the last night of that trip, we drove past what I remember to be a 333 — support from my spirit guides. Again, a nod from the universe that I was on the right path. The photographic receipt of this came out so blurry, it’s hard to see the 333. But Google Maps affirms there’s a 333 Riverview near the route we had taken home, and it turns out I’ve actually photographed that same, physical angel number (from another angle) before:
When I got back to New York, I was so heads down with some projects and work that I clocked nary an angel number in the wild as evidence by my lack of camera roll record. But as soon as I touched down in Austin, TX for New Year’s, the numbers started rolling in.
Lots of 999s and 111s. Lots of endings and new beginnings:
From a literal standpoint, that obviously aligned with the timing of my trip being at the end of the calendar year. Of course there were endings and new beginnings abound. But it weighed on my mind that maybe my spirit guides were talking about something else. In my personal life, I was also closing the chapter of focusing full time on my own creative projects, and taking on more external client work come Jan. So I thought, maybe that ending/beginning was what my spirit guides were referring to? But still I worried that maybe it was something closer to the heart.
Right after Austin, I spent a day in Miami to onboard to a new project, still thinking about the 999/111 of it all. Immediately, I started seeing 444 — protection from my spirit guides, an urge to release doubt. I kept seeing this sequence even when I landed back in New York the next day. It felt like necessary reassurance that I was encouraged to surrender and trust in whatever endings/beginnings I was meant to go through.
And because of the frequency of all this numerical serendipity, I am newly confident that you can positively harness the power of angel numbers in a way that evolves them beyond just a fun game of I spy.
Harnessing the Power of Angel Numbers
Angel numbers can be energetic answers to quiet questions between you and the universe.
Imagine you have some open question on your mind. You’re walking around, mulling it over, and then you look up and see an angel number on a doorframe or sign. Maybe it’s a door you constantly walk past, but for some reason it was today that you looked up and noticed it. That, my friend, is the energy of the universe listening to your intangible thoughts and pulling your physical gaze up to see an answer.
It’s this understanding that allows me to enjoy the angel number game all the more deeply. Now I’ve grown to somewhat expect a numerical nod whenever I’m uncertain about something. It feels a bit religious: trusting in a higher power for guidance when life down on earth feels a bit out of your control.
Some people might argue that if you’re primed to look for numbers, you’ll inevitably see them more often — like a visual ‘Cocktail Party Effect.’ But I choose to believe that it’s a higher level consciousness. That the universe is acting intentionally, and in alignment, by both putting the numbers in your path and lifting your eye-line to receive the messages.
I hope by now, I’ve convinced you of the magic and mysticism of angel numbers, and that the next time you see one you think to look up what it means and reflect on how it might align with your day. I also hope you tell me when it happens! Or if it’s happened in memorable moments already, please drop a comment. You know I love human confirmation as much as I do from my angels ;)
And as an additional treat for those of you who read this through, I posted this video about the magical alignment of the PO Box # I was assigned when I started a new business a few months ago. It’s not a mirrored angel number (like 333), but it does hold fascinating numerological significance.
Wildly (yet unsurprisingly) it is legitimately 3:33 on the clock as I write this dispatch. And, of course, it’s no coincidence that I’m sharing this story on 1/11 <3
Angellically yours,
Maia
555 unread text messages oops.
love love love: That the universe is acting intentionally, and in alignment, by both putting the numbers in your path and lifting your eye-line to receive the messages.
I really appreciate how this entire post is simultaneously grounded and expansive. There is something magical about literally just looking up in the world ~ and also ~ you are opening your heart to miracles by doing so.
Love you and your wisdom and your trust! Can't wait to see where the angels guide you next <3