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.
- Shakti Gawain’s Creative Visualzation Workbook
- Write it Down Make it Happen
- The Instant Millionaire
- Be What You Wish
- Keep Calm and Ask On
- Can the Law of Attraction Be Made Easy
- It Works
They light my optimism when I’m feeling down or stuck in neutral.
Elizabeth Maxim 