Sweet Little Manifestations

Warning: we’re going a little hippie-dippie-new-agey again today.

I’ve never been a vision board type of person. I never understood how an afternoon spent cutting out photos from magazines could change my life. And so it followed that I also never got into the Law of Attraction, nor did I ever feel the celebrated impact of daily affirmations or visualizations. They just didn’t feel very instinctive to me. It seemed almost humanly impossible to maintain “only positive thoughts”. What, then, do I do with all my fears and doubts??? . . . I don’t know. All of it felt too ‘optimistic’. I figured that if I wanted something out of life, I could get it with a little bit of prayer, a little bit of luck, and a whole lot of hard work.

Then a couple of years ago, I stumbled upon Lacy Phillips. I liked her nuanced views on manifestation and was curious enough to attend a couple of workshops while she was in NY. Her approach to manifesting desires is simple and a lot more intuitive to me. No vision boards and mantras necessary.

Manifestation Principles

The core principles of her approach to manifestation are these:

Clarity. We need to be very clear about what it is we are manifesting or calling into our lives. She recommends we write it down and be very specific. If we are vague about what it is we are trying to attract, the universe will send us vagueness. To use Lacy’s example, we shouldn’t say, I want to change jobs but I’m not really sure what it is I want to do next. We need to get clear first.

A couple of related points: One, since we are required to be very clear about what it is we are manifesting, it is recommended that we manifest for a short-term horizon (about 6 months max). Anything beyond that becomes vague since we are constantly evolving. Two and very important, what we are manifesting has to come from our core desires. Not from our ego. Not because anybody else but ourselves is telling us we should want it. Thus, if we are trying to manifest a partner, subconsciously so that we can make our ex feel bad, we can manifest this partner until the cows come home to no avail.

Believe. It is key to truly believe that the subject we are manifesting is arriving. This is not so easy to do, and hence is a core part of Lacy’s work. We all have a ton of insecurities and fears that have developed from our childhood and from society’s programming. These insecurities form subconscious limiting beliefs that make us doubt our ability to get what we want. I want a career change (but I’m too old). I want a partner (but I’m overweight). It is essential to rid ourselves of these blocks — through the use of logic, theta healing, hypnosis or whatever it takes to do so.

Trust. Once we’ve done the work of getting clear and removing the blocks, then we must trust that what we’ve manifested is on its way. This is where taking risks and jumping off cliffs makes us very magnetic. When we jump off cliffs, we are telling the universe that we are trusting it fully.

An important aspect of trust is believing that what we are calling is being delivered in its full form. Thus, we should never settle for half-baked things that come into our lives. These are tests to see if we fully believe we can have everything we ask for. If we settle, we are telling the universe we don’t trust that we can fully have what we want.

I encourage you to dig around her site. It’s rich with detail.

Sweet Little Experiments

To be honest, I haven’t tried manifesting around weighty matters like career and love. Partly because see Clarity above, and partly because a little part of me wants to leave these things to fate. Or faith. But for shits and giggles, I’ve tried manifesting little things, and have come back with amusing stories.

Here are a couple of recent Sweet Littles:

London Apartment.  I’ve signed up for a short intense course in London in the Fall. The classes start promptly and painfully at 8am. It was, thus, very clear to me that I would need to find an apartment close to the school. Several family members and friends very generously offered up their place, but they all live in West London which is at least an hour away from the school.

So, I threw up a request to the universe for a suitable apartment. I didn’t yet know how I was going to find it. But when I visited a friend who had recently moved from the Upper West Side to a flatshare in Brooklyn, she told me that she found the place through a site called spareroom. Not knowing that I was searching for a London flat, she mentioned that the site actually started in the UK. Hmmmmm.

So, I checked out the site that night, and placed an ad that listed out what I was looking for: a quiet, peaceful apartment for a Monday to Friday rental (as I will stay with my sister during the weekends); within walking distance from the school; with a private bathroom; at a (more or less) specific budget.

I received numerous offers — from groups of girls (too sorority party), couples (too awkward), homeowners with beautiful homes and gardens (too far), people who wanted to play tennis during the weekends (too best friends-y), professionals (too shared bathroom-y). Then I received an email from a chap, “I appreciate my apartment is across the river from your school, but it would be a great walk. You or your sister might want to view it”. When I was in London 2 weeks ago, I went to check out the apartment and meet the fellow. The apartment meets all my requirements plus plus (washer/dryer, etc.), is in a lively location along the river and just across the river from the school (which makes for a nice short walk over Tower Bridge (in photo)), and has tons of restaurants and bars around. Chap and I got along swimmingly, AND since he works outside of London, will only be in the apartment on weekends! Ummm helloooo. Check, check, check, check, and double check!

New York Furniture.  Since I am getting rid of most everything I own, I put an order to the universe for a painless process of disposing of my furniture. I was prepared to do one or a blend of the following — sell stuff on Craigslist, leave stuff on the sidewalk (which would necessitate hiring guys to disassemble the furniture and carry them downstairs), and hire a demolition team to take some furniture and put in junk (which, apparently, is also quite expensive).

While I was in London, I received an email from my building’s management saying “We have new tenants for your apartment. They would like to move in pretty much as it is. Are you willing to sell your furniture (down to the art)?” Ummm hell to the yeah!

To the universe, to little experiments, to Lacy, I am grateful.

 

Have thoughts on manifestation?  Let me know in the comments section below.