Visualization & Manfesting: Managing the Down Times

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Came across two articles related to manifesting.

A topic I frequently write about.

It got me thinking.

Especially the visualization one.

I’m due for a refresh on my visualizations.

Life changes around us so it’s good to reevaluate your goals to ensure things are moving in the right direction.

As I sat down to my lunchtime reading it occurred to me I could share how I handle the between time.

The time between when goals are first visualized to when they manifest.

This particular between time has another angle.  I’m still interested in the goals I’ve been visualizing but I’m not putting specific visualizations behind them because of the nuances life’s changes have introduced.  These changes mean it’s premature to put visuals – which are powerful tools for manifesting – into practice.

Too many variables are in play.

My lunchtime reading had me realizing I’d unconsciously come up with a solution.

Don’t Visualize.

Yeah, right.

My mind doesn’t race but it does tend to not shut off.

I’ll wake in the night with an idea for a book or a podcast, etc.

While this is cool on the surface it can lead to burnout.

Been there, done that, don’t want the sequel.

I unconsciously chose an activity that soothes my active mind.

Nope, not walking.

I reread my favorite books!

I love reading.

Some of the books are stories I’ve written.  Others, novels by my favorite authors.

It’s an enjoyable activity that keeps my mind engaged to the degree I don’t stress over the fact it’s in between and I need to wait out a few things.

Things outside my control.

I consider it letting the soil rest so it will be ready when I plant the next seeds.

A hobby can be a wonderful way to distract the mind from what is outside its control and while in this particular case it’s rereading stories it could be playing a sport, building Legos, doing jigsaw puzzles.

Ideally it should distract and relax.

Be well and Happy Manifesting!

Manifesting With a Twist

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Wanted to share a story that is a twist on manifesting.

While out walking this morning I came across someone sleeping on the sidewalk.  This is unusual in that I rarely see this where I walk.

Rarely – not never.

At first I thought it a woman huddled into a sweat jacket head resting on a small suitcase.  I asked “Are you okay?”  Even after they replied “Fine” I thought it a woman.  As I was on my way back the individual sat up.

He’s Just a Kid!

I don’t think he could have been more than 21, huddled in that jacket.  He looked up at me and said, “I’m sorry,” in a way that suggested he was sorry for existing.  

Respect Always

I didn’t want to offend his pride but I wanted to help him warm up so I offered to buy him a coffee.  He initially said “Oh, you don’t have to do that,” but then mumbled, “Unless you want to.”

I told him I just needed time to walk home grab my wallet walk to the coffee place then back.  He immediately said “Oh, that sounds like an awful lot of trouble – that’s okay – thank you for offering.”  I looked down to see a small pile of quarters he said he thought may be enough to buy one for himself. Looking at that small pile I considered that buying a coffee for someone in need is such a small thing.

For me – not for him.

I Love Walking

I could see he very much wanted to accept my offer but wasn’t sure how to convey that to me. I assured him I didn’t mind the extra walking and started toward home.

On my way I decided to get him something to eat.

It seemed a small thing that would make his day better.

I bought a chocolate croissant and had them warm it.

Manifesting Miracles

As I was walking to the coffee shop I went through the affirmations I say regularly.  When I got to “I embrace miracles” it occured to me that I had manifested a miracle for that guy.  

He didn’t have the means for breakfast or warming up after a cool PNW evening. Thanks to me he would have a bit of both.

Deserving

When I handed him the goods the first thing out of his mouth after thanking me was, “I know I don’t deserve it.”

I said, “Yes, you do.  You absolutely deserve it and I’m happy to do this for you.  You definitely deserve it.”

Vibrational Frequency.

A part of the overall manifesting ethos is the idea of like attracting like.  Today that guy’s vibrational harmony was such that I left for my walk at the perfect time to come upon him and then think “How can I help him warm up?”  

Coffee!

Buying someone a cup of coffee is such a small thing and it was so easy to decide to get him a croissant as well.

So he would start his day with some food in his stomach.

I watched him set everything up neatly – as if he was having a picnic.  

He told me he would be on his way as soon as he finished eating – thanked me again.

I wanted to share this story to illustrate that even as we work to attract good things into our lives we may be part of someone else’s miracle.

Which can feel great.

A Gift For Me

As I was typing this post I looked up to see a hummingbird had come to visit.  

A nod from the universe.

Have a wonderful day!

Manifesting 101: Time to Travel

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In his book I’m Rich Beyond My Wildest Dreams I am I am I am Thomas Pauley suggests adding the line (paraphrasing here) It is seeking me as I am seeking it when writing your goals.

The idea being what you want is attracting you as you are attracting it.  

I recently saw this in action.

As a novelist one of the first decisions I make after deciding on a plot and the characters is setting.  As part of my selection process I take into consideration whether or not I’ve been to the area I’m considering.

If not then I consisder whether I’ve been to a place close or in some other way similar location.

In the case of my Dragon Core series it wasn’t just deciding between Seattle and New Orleans it was deciding on the setting within the setting.

I lived in New Orleans but so long ago I didn’t feel I could do it justice.

When it came to Aesop’s Cove I had the perfect location in mind as a “stand-in.”

I planned on having it as a place I could go work at so I could really soak up the vibe for the story.

Excited to have this ironed out I went with hubby for a celebratory lunch only to learn we’d shown up on the last day.

I remember staring at the waitress in shock as she told me they were going out of business.

Timing

What are the chances?

She brought the boss over after I explained why we were there.  He was polite but strained.

No wonder.

Though I was ready to go forward with the story I knew I had to find a suitable place as a stand-in for Aesop’s.

To serve as a place to go when I needed an energy tune-up during times of writing fatigue.

Weeks turned to months and I could not find a suitable location.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Waterfront

For a variety of reasons including serious career burnout I took time off from writing.

A lot of time.

During this time I focused on self-care.

A lot of walking.

As I walked I sorted through challenges, mysteries, and solutions to those mysteries.

Many of those mysteries related to manifesting goals.

What I didn’t do was focus on the challenge of finding a suitable location to be a stand-in for such an important plot element.

I just kept walking and “not” thinking.

One day I decided to try to get a bit of work done.  At the time I was more thrilled with the idea I’d be able to do a bit of writing than where. As a result I gave little thought before slipping into a local haunt and sitting down to work.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

It had been some time since I’d been there.

Thank you Covid lockdown.

On some of these occasions I struck up conversations with visitors either local or not.  While I occasionally mentioned what I was doing more often than not I just enjoyed listening to their stories.

I love hearing people’s stories.

I continued this trend and came to see the location was becoming key in my recovery from burnout.

Likely because while I was working there I didn’t associate it with work.

I associated it with relaxing and the opportunity for spontaneous conversation.

I tuned into the music playing, the conversations.

Conversations that took my mind off my troubles.

And then it hit me.  I’d found my Aesop’s.

It only took about a year of not looking for it.

On a recent walk I pondered the mystery of how this happened.  I’d been in that place before burnout and never considered it a suitable stand-in for the Cove.  No sooner had that thought surfaced then Pauley’s words came to mind.

It is seeking me as I am seeking it.

During the time away from writing due to events beyond anyone’s control the place underwent a shift.

Thank you Covid shutdown.

I came to understand that as I was changing through my focus on self-care and health and wellness the location and its employees were also changing.  By the time I circled back around it had become what I needed.

The Lesson  

If only I had changed or only that location had changed it’s doubtful I would have found it to be a suitable stand-in.  It’s because we were both pulling mutual energy for the same or similar goal that I was able to manifest what I needed.

One of the bigger changes was that they wanted to be more than just a place to hangout.  They wanted to serve their diverse customers’ needs in ways I feel is friendlier.

Warmer, more inviting.

More like how I pictured Aesop’s Cove.

In coming to understand this need for transformtive change not just in myself but in some other aspect of the goal I found myself relaxing about a key element in the manifestation game.

Time

I’m more relaxed about how long the goal may take to manifest because I now truly understand it won’t til things are in place.

And that may take time.

MANIFESTING: WOULDN’T IT BE COOL?

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I was sitting on my porch the other night admiring the gradient changes in a twilight sky and thinking how lucky I was to have such a view.  I took a deep breath appreciating the ability to breathe clean air when I was hit with the realzation I was living a wish fulfilled.  Though I’ve had a number of manifestation successes in my life, this one is interesting in that

  • I made the wish when I was 7
  • I shared the wish with someone who immediately told me how impractical it was
  • I forgot about it
  • I never did one conscious thing to make it happen

Origin of a Wish

When I was a kid we lived about 11 miles as the crow flies from the River Rouge plant.  Each summer we would go camping on Lake Huron.

We genereally went to the Oscoda area but sometimes we’d go further north.

One of my favorite things to do was stand on the beach at evening twilight and stare up at a sky filled with stars.

A number of factors including light pollution meant this wasn’t possible at home.

I also loved walking through the woods with my dad.

I love trees and the fresh air was wonderful.

The summer I was 7 I told my dad it would be cool to live up north.

So we could enjoy beautiful twilight skies and fresh air all year long.

He told me it wasn’t practical.

Because of the economy.

He explained that a tourist economy meant those living in that area faced a lot of financial adversity.

I didn’t need to hear any more.

We were already poor.

I let go of the wish.

Though not the desire to have the benefits of the wish, beautiful twilight skies and fresh air to breathe.

This morning as I again considered the irony of this particular wish fulfilled I came to realze a number of my manifestation successes have something in common.  They almost always start with a specific phrase.

Wouldn’t It Be Cool?

In high school I went with a friend to see Desperately Seeking Susan.  As I sat in the theatre watching the scene where Aidan Quinn and Rosanna Arquette  are on the roof of the loft talking I thought Wouldn’t it be cool to live in a loft in an urban area like that?

It was a fleeting thought.

Though one I repeated – out loud – several years later to a different friend while we were watching the movie on cable.

Other than the brief repeat I didn’t give it any more thought.

I did nothing to make it happen.

Approximately ten years later I found myself living that life not because I consciously set my sights to living in an urban loft but because it just unfolded that way.

Even then I knew something was up.

Too much of a coincidence as it was too close to my high school vision.

By the time we were living in Fort Collins, Colorado I’d figured out that every time I uttered those words…Wouldn’t it Be Cool?  I got the wish.

Just one problem.

It can’t be forced!

Manifestation gurus would likely explain the process – saying Wouldn’t it be cool? then letting it go – is the detachment necessary to bring something to be and they’d be right.  Unfortunately, I can’t force the detachment.  When it comes to my successes using this phrase?  Every time I’ve uttered those words it was done with a negligent shrug.  

There was no emotional attachment to an outcome.

To this day I am unable to fake the detachment.

I can say the words but my unconscious mind is smart.  It knows when I’m saying the words but failing in the detachment part.

Fortunately, I’ve a number of other options for manifestation.  Given the unique nature of the success stories I will include them here.

So others can give them a try if they wish.

The Ideal Scene

In 1996 during a challenging part of my life  I bought Shakti Gawain’s Creative Visualization Workbook.

I’d never heard of visualization or manifestation.

The book was on a table at the front of Border’s Books where I’d gone to find something to distract myself from my troubles.

Though I diligently completed each exercise it was The Ideal Scene I was most intrigued by.

Maybe because I’m a writer?

I wrote out details for my ideal relationship, following the rules about not being too specific yet putting in details that were important.  Then I put the book aside.

Never looked at it again.

Several years later while unpacking a box in the living room of our Downtown San Francisco loft I pulled out the workbook.

I’d forgotten about it.

I’d packed it in a box of books and other items I’d been moving around the country.

As I read what I wrote – in pencil – in The Ideal Scene – I got a big smile.  I’d married the man I wrote as being ideal for me.

The way I described him in that letter was more or less a perfect match for how I would have described him that day.

Encouraged by the success I used that technique to manifest the house we bought after the loft and while I was again successful I learned a big lesson.

Be exact in your wording.

When writing the Ideal Scene about the house I wanted for our family I described the number of rooms and bathrooms – that it had wood floors and a fireplace – the yard, nice neighbors, safe, etc. and yes I got everything exact.  What was missing?  I didn’t put in the style of house.

I would have preferred something other than a ranch.

Alas, this is another method that is apparently tied to detachment.

A detachment I can’t fake.

I let go of that particular process for manifesting when we were living in Fort Collins.

A Picture Worth a 1000 Words

We were living in Scottsdale and trying to determine our next move.

We always knew it would be a temporary place where we could regroup after the horrific fallout from the EMF Sensitivity nightmare.

We could move pretty much anywhere we wanted.

We were split between New England and So Cal.

We had a number of options before us.  

Too many options.

After months of attempting to come to a decision I decided to shove the location question aside and focus instead on the type of dwelling I wanted.  One thing was clear.  I desperately missed living in a city.

I couldn’t stand living in a suburb – something I’d never experienced growing up.

Stupid HOA rules and incredible boredom.

I found a cool picture of a couple dancing in their urban loft.

It was an advertisement for the building.

Uncertain of a location at this point I also cut out a picture of a cool house.

It was a view of part of the inside.

Completely different it had a bit of a New England fishing town vibe.

Time passed and we eventually decided on So Cal, moving to an urban loft after touring the gorgeous housing area to the north left me feeling nauseated.

I explained to Aaron my heart would always be in Downtown San Diego.

I needed the freedom and energy of the urban life.

Memories of subdivisions and HOA stuff left me feeling ill.

And then…

Eventually thanks to the twists and turns so common in my life I found myself in the Pacific Northwest.  One afternoon while at my desk I looked up to realize I was looking at the other photo from Scottsdale.

Everything was exact, including the color of paint on the wall.

A color that was here when we moved in.

What stood out about this particular manifestation success is that I didn’t consciously create it.

I didn’t consciously create either one of the options yet got both.

I’d been torn between the two to the degree I got pictures of each and though they were on my desk in AZ, I put them out of my mind.

I see the connection in all of these successes is detachment.  What’s interesting is that the detachment happened differently in each case.

Showing there’s more than one way to skin a wish.

In concluding I will list my favorite books on manifesting.

They light my optimism when I’m feeling down or stuck in neutral.

IMAGES, WRITING, AND MANIFESTING LIFE

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The decision to cancel the Pillars project was not an easy one.  As I wrote, I spent the previous 7 + years trying to make the pieces fit, couldn’t.  Or rather, I could but it would cheat readers  and myself because trying to force fit a subject as broad as the 4 separate types of EMFs that affect human health and well-being is was going to require sacrificing somewhere. 

UPDATE: After rescoping I was able to complete the Pillars project.

The years beginning after moving to the SF Bay Area and becoming ill have provided me with incredible knowledge and experience on the misunderstood and often dramatized condition known as EMF Sensitivity.

The WHO calls it Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity or EHS which suggests a base understanding that all of us are impacted by EMFs with some being more sensitive than others.

The books I’ve written give broad and often in-depth overviews of the various EMFs and I stand by my work.  Thanks to my efforts I have freed myself from sensitivity to technology EMFs and eliminated negative symptoms from my awareness of the other types.

Geologic, Atmospheric, and Esoteric.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t a middle ground and in the weeks to come I will attempt to find it if for no other reason than to provide information that will be helpful – and perhaps fun.

Ghost hunting anyone?

In the meantime I have a number of other projects I’m working on.

As always.

On to the Subject Line.

This morning a headline caught my attention. The images of Valparaiso, Chile were beyond startling not because of the drying up of a lake – I’ve seen a number of those images in recent months – but because of the dramatic difference of the area around it, including a photo of the Andes Mountains.  Why?

Valparaiso, Chile is the non-US location for numerous scenes in my Hangover Series. 

 In preparation for the story locale I did a lot of research, interviewing people familiar with the area and local customs as well as those with knowledge of flight rules for private pilots wanting to fly from Silicon Valley to Central and South America.  I also let my fingers do the walking across the keyboard.

Internet photos showed an area lush and green with vineyards and a university nearby and beautiful snow-capped mountains in the distance.  To see the place now compared to how it looked ten years ago?  I was speechless.

What the hell happened?

It was sobering to think of the short amount of time in which the dramatic and devastating transformation took place.

The sites I was familiar with in the US – China Lake and the Salton Sea in particular – were not as dramatic though some of the more recent photos of dam created reservoirs are troubling for sure.

Having spent months and then years immersed in the non-US location of the books in the series probably made me more emotionally attached than I might have otherwise been.  I know one thing.  The saying a picture is worth a thousand words?  I couldn’t agree more.

A Picture You Say?

Ironically, a different set of photos from long ago brought a different emotional response.  

Imagery and Manifestation.

Back in 2000 I took the Silva BLS course where I learned something called The Long Relax.  As part of this meditation students are asked to visualize their Ideal Place of Relaxation.  

This location can be real or imagined and can contain whatever elements you wish.  

For my place I chose a number of different images, some real and some imagined, then kluged them together to form a location that included a bit of adventure.

To get to my location I had to cross a stream wide enough to require I be ferried in a way I imagined similar to the Mists of Avalon travel to the isle – then a walk to an area that had a sunken amphitheatre – acient Greek style – and depending on the route through the tropical forest surrounding the area you may find yourself at a castle or if you went a different way a plantation house on the Pacific ocean.  

This house had a large veranda. 

Depending on my mood I might spend time in that house gazing out at the horizon or I may walk on to this area of trees overhanging the beach. 

If I wanted to go to the castle I rode a horse through the part of the forest immediately next to the amphithatre which was sunken into the ground and had an orb in it. Seating was carved from the natural rock.

Lots of images and paths to choose from.

For years I used this diverse location as my Ideal Place of Relaxation.  Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to find a real place that not only held all those elements but had them all in one location.

Kauai.

Back in 2004 Aaron and I were fortunate enough to go to Kauai where I found not only my Ideal Place of Relaxation but a manifestation of a childhood wish!

The Wish.

When I was a kid my family went to see King Kong at the drive-in.

The one with Fay Wray.

I remember watching the scene with the waterfalls and thinking how awesome it would be to swim in such a beautiful place.  Tucking the thought away I went on with my life.

I was six at the time.

Checking the Fodor’s Guide to plan our day’s activities I came upon an entry about a place where tourists could view waterfalls that were the location for the filming of King Kong.

We rapelled to the edge of the water into which the falls were pouring and I got my childhood wish.

It was colder than I would have thought which made me spare a bit of empathy for what Fay must have gone through in the filming of that scene.

The Scene to Relax.

On another day we set out to do a bit of exploring.  Parking the car we proceeded to hike toward the shore.  We were almost to the ocean when I caught site of a tree overhanging part of the beach.

OMG It’s My Tree!

I excitedly told Aaron about the tree being a central fixture in my Ideal Scene of Relaxation.

It was a place I would sit and think while staring out at the horizon.

I took several photos and we continued on our journey walking along the water.

OMG It’s My House!

We hadn’t gone too far when we came upon a house on the water – complete with a large veranda.

It was not plantation style but otherwise fit the image I’d created in my mind’s eye.

Amused we continued on.

OMG…

I think you can see where this is going.

We passed over a stream that was narrow enough a toddler could cross it without a boat but it was in the exact location I imagined in my Place of Relaxation.

By this point I was starting to feel a little unnerved.

No Way!

If you can believe we came upon a sunken area carved out of rock and not far from it a large boulder spherical in shape.

We were snapping photos left and right as we continued on and I shared more details of the locale I’d created in my mind.

Including riding a horse to the castle if I wished.

As we were leaving the area we decided to hike through the woods instead of backtracking.  You can imagine my reaction to seeing riders on horseback coming out of the forest next to that amphitheatre.

Just like my vision.

Ginsu Knife Moment.

Aka There’s more.

I was so shaken by seeing everything from my vision – regardless of the fact the locations were not exact relative to each other – I didn’t visit the Place of Ideal Relaxation for years.

Ironically I went through a period of manifestation efforts that failed during that same timeframe.

Finally, around 2009 I began trying Silva again.

As I write in Riding the Waves: Diagnosing, Treating, and Living with EMF Sensitivity, I got the exact opposite of everything I tried to manifest.

I now know it’s because of the EMF Sensitivity.

In 2010 I wrote to a senior individual at the Silva Method and asked what he thought might have happened.  As if part of a nightmare he responded with a scathing accusation that I was obviously trying to cheat the universe and cheat God in asking for what I was asking for.

A quick sale of our house in a down market?  That’s cheating the universe and cheating God?

At the time I was devastated but decided that like recent attempts at using Silva to manifest solutions, my message was somehow lost in the universe somewhere.

Or at the very least having a Mercury Retrograde moment.

Aaron did what he could to console me suggesting that given the down housing market perhaps I’d struck a nerve with the guy.

I returned to my Ideal Place of Relaxation which was completely new and recreated.

Another nature scene this had mountains on the left side of the path through the woods and a fork to the right that led to a steep path down to a rushing river.

One I knew would be very cold.

Wanting to get a feel for our new Colorado home base, we set out to visit a park.

Not Estes Park.

After a nice picnic we hiked out a trail that went along the Flatirons.

The mountains were to the left as we hiked.

You can see where this is going too I bet.

We came upon a fork where a branch of the trail led to a cliff.  Down below?  A rushing body of water.

A cold river.

Badly shaken – this was the second time elements I’d pulled together in my mind from random areas or sources in a very specific way had come together in a real place.  Only this time – which is why I was so shaken – everything was exactly where it had been in my vision.

Exactly.

In the years since I’ve manifested my Ideal Place of Relaxation a number of times.  

Never intentionally.

Enough that I now take great pains when crafting an image.  

Life can be thrown into chaos as it seeks to fulfill your apparent desire.

Images are Powerful.

They also travel faster.

I have written about an equation I was asked to solve.

Details are in Lessons From the Edge: An Author’s Guide to Metatron’s Army.

Though I will be sharing details in whatever publication I end up pulling from the rubble pile, I can at least share this much now.

Direct from the equation which was a communications translation key.

When talking to the universe, images travel faster than words.

There’s more to the equation but what’s important is keeping an image in your mind is a good way to have it manfest.

Visualization Works.

For more on protecting manifestation efforts from EMFs readers may want to check out The Intention Experiments by Lynne McTaggart.

I will have information too in some upcoming publication though I did give a big piece of the puzzle in a recent blog.

Stay tuned.