ISSUE 20: MANIFESTING A DESTINY
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THE MANIFESTATION INDUSTRY
I have been aware of the concept of manifesting since I was probably in middle school. That’s not a flex (or is it?), but I definitely remember my mom having the book (and DVD!) of The Secret, telling her friends “Oh my god, you have to read this.” The Secret is based on the “Law of Attraction” which posits that whatever you put out into the world—negative or positive— you attract. So, if you’re like, omg, why do these llamas keep showing up in my living room? You’re gonna wake up to more llamas in your living room. Not literally, but…maybe. Jokes aside, the foundation to The Secret is that negative thoughts bring about negative experiences and positive thoughts bring about positive experiences.
Without doing extensive research, I’d say The Secret is probably the first time the concept of manifestation entered the mainstream.
Now, I’m looking at manifestation as a bystander right now, even though I have been and AM (more on that later) an active participant in the idea of it.
I just tried to find a definition of manifestation in the dictionary, and it doesn’t really exist. The best definitions I could find for today’s purposes were for manifest:
verb [with object]
display or show (a quality or feeling) by one's acts or appearance; demonstrate: Ray manifested signs of severe depression.
(often be manifested in) be evidence of; prove: bad industrial relations are often manifested in disputes and strikes.
I’m not sure who coined the actual term “manifestation”, but it seems like they kind of went “A to C” (comedy ppl get it) on the above definitions and what it means now, which is (my best take): Whatever is happening outside of you/to you is evidence of what is happening inside of you/in your thoughts.
It’s creative. I get it. And that’s essentially what manifestation means today.
There are—however—discrepancies on the practices that are best for seeing one’s dreams and goals come to fruition. That is what we will get into today.
ORIGINS OF MAN-IFESATION
Not to go all “her-story” on you, but as I did some light research, I couldn’t help but notice the that there is a whole lot of MAN in the origins of manifestation.
Let’s go back to 8th grade history, when we all learned about the phrase… MANIFEST DESTINY. Ah yes, the term that meant “the supposed inevitability of the continued territorial expansion of the boundaries of the United States westward to the Pacific and beyond.” Ok, that’s a little…presumptuous!
Coined in 1845 by John L. Sullivan, editor of a Democratic Party-serving paper, the term was apparently buried in the article it first appeared in—which was about the importance of annexing Texas and continued westward expansion. It became more of a rallying cry afterwards. (BTW this was during when the Whig Party existed, and I don’t think the Republican Party was born yet so the ideals were different from what they’d be today…as you recall….the parties flipped. Why am I talking about the Whig Party in a wellness newsletter. This is the only Whig Party I want to have: )
OK BACK TO MEN-ifesting
So basically Manifest Destiny was like “ummmm we are destined by God to take over all this land? And we will :)“ Cue another issue thrown into the United States colonialist garbage fire :)))))))))
This concept to me is inherently patriarchal. It’s the same vibes as your arch-nemesis Ted getting the promotion over you because he’s like “well I’m just gonna tell our boss Joe that I want it during our golf sesh together tomorrow morning—even though you work harder and are smarter than me, Tina.”
Mixing the ideas of “I am gonna just forcefully do this” with “it’s DESTINED BY GOD, AND SO IT IS!” is a little cringe, mama. Just look at that iconic Manifest Destiny art. A gorgeous angel leading some grody men westward? I think not. This unfortunately would not be the last time men invoked God while making a bold choice for the United States.
Fast forward to 1906 when the first major book on manifestation was published, called “Thought Vibration or, the Law of Attraction in the Thought World” by some hottie named William Walker Atkinson.
This book supposedly is the precursor to The Secret and suggests that the quality of your thoughts affects the quality of your life. And I know what you’re thinking: he looks so happy!
I haven’t read this book, but from the synopsis it seems like it’s pretty similar to what The Secret is all about.
Now, speaking in a yin-yang sense… the idea of “I AM GOING TO CONTROL MY THOUGHTS AND GET WHAT I WANT” is definitely masculine. It also seems really aggressive and maybe even a little emotionally repressive if I’m being honest. It’s like
Man: I WANT CAR.
Brain: CAR. CAR. CAR. CAR.
lol.
The substance is lacking.
Again, it feels very MAN IN THE BOARDROOM! I WILL GET WHAT I WANT!
If a woman wrote this book…well, it may be a little different. But who’s to say. Maybe I am being a little extreme, but if I’m not, who will be?
Ok so, so far, the first two major pillars of manifestation in history and culture are coming from MEN. Keep it in mind.
Rhonda Byrne, the author of The Secret, is not a man. She’s a Pisces! She actually has the same birthday as my dad, who is a man. Pisces are very intuitive, more energy sensitive signs, so I think it’s kind of interesting she is one and did this kind of work. Rhonda was actually 55 years old when the book came out (we love and admire success later in life), but that means she was in her 30s in the 1980s, aka the time when this was the look:
That’s right: power suits. I could’ve also just said she is a Baby Boomer. But my point is that in the 80s, when Ms. Byrne was deep into her career, women were coming into more power and making greater strides professionally. However, they did this by playing by the men’s game. There’ve been things written on this….we saw it with the Girlboss era….and I will not go into it further but.
That’s all to say that the foundation of manifestation in our popular culture was developed by people with a more old school, patriarchal background.
I’m not a Gender Studies major, but I do know how to count the large amount of dudes occupying a certain space. By that I mean the manifestation industry. But I also mean Best Buy.
MANIFESTATION IN RECENT YEARS
There have been countless authors and “thought leaders” on manifestation, including Oprah, Gabby Bernstein, Deepak Chopra, etc etc, the list goes on an on of very successful people who quite possibly manifested their careers in which they talk about manifestation.
Typical ways you may have heard of manifesting include:
Writing down your intentions
Meditating on those intentions
Talking/acting like that goal has already been reached
Creating a vision board
Asking your parents for money
People who teach manifestation also talk about how you are “co-creating” with the Universe. Meaning, if you say you want to join Cirque du Soleil but are too afraid to go to an audition and show everyone that you can wrap your leg around your neck twice, you aren’t ever going to get hired. You have to muster up the courage to GO to the audition, wrap your leg around your neck 2x, then see if you get the job. When you take a step, the Universe takes a step. That’s the concept.
Anyone who “doesn’t do manifestation” but is still out there accomplishing incremental goals leading up big goals might say “duh” to this.
In one aspect, that makes me think, “ok are we just giving accomplishing goals a fancy name.”
Yes and no. You’ve maybe heard the quote:
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
–Seneca, a Roman philosopher
I feel like this quote is accurate. Like, you gotta be out there doing the thing and maybe you’ll happen to run into someone that can help you bridge the gap to your goal. You could also be accomplishing goals that don’t necessarily feel authentic to you/aligned with what you really want, so I definitely think it’s more than just accomplishing a goal.
LUCKY GIRL SYNDROME
A few months back, friends of mine mentioned that there was a TikTok trend circulating called “Lucky Girl Syndrome.” The lede of this Vox article on Lucky Girl Syndrome has me laughing:
If 2020 was the year that TikTokers discovered The Secret — that is, the idea that you can make anything you want happen if you believe in it enough — then the two years that followed are when they’ve tried to rebrand it into perpetual relevance. Its most recent makeover is something rather ominously called “lucky girl syndrome,” almost as if it is a communicable disease.
It’s so true. I admire Gen Z, but there is really something that grinds my gears about these girlies making up new names for stuff that has already existed.
Do NOT get me started on “Hot Girl Walks.”
Honestly, if this longtime daily walker (me) knew I could brand my walks into a business … I would’ve. I would be FUCKING RICHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I WALK EVERY DAMN DAY!!!! I AM THE HOTTEST GIRL WALKING!!!!
But actually—I wouldn’t have branded going for a walk because I think it’s soooo silly.
Also, my take on whenever something is branded as something “cool” / “hot” is that I feel like it inherently suggests people would think they look dumb doing it otherwise. Like, “oh, you’re going for a walk? Loser.” But “Oooh girl did you just do your Hot Girl Walk??? Slayyyyy hottie yasss.”
I feel the same way about the term “short king” that some people use to describe shorter guys. Implicit in that phrase, to me, is that they’re saying “omg is it embarrassing if I think they are attractive even though they are short which is conventionally not attractive??????????” I mean for god’s sake, we filter people by height on dating apps.
As far as Lucky Girl Syndrome goes, it seems like part of it is “being delusional” about things until they happen. Gen Z loves to take a word that invokes “haha I’m cringe but I’m being delusional it’s a means to an end—don’t judge me!”
WHY I JUST SIGNED UP FOR A MANIFESTATION PROGRAM
You’re probably clutching your pearls right now because I just spent the last 1,700+ words somewhat railing against the Manifestation Industry™.
As far as my own goals and manifestations go, I’ve been feeling like I’ve been doing “everything” to make things happen yet not seeing results I would like in my life. I’ve literally said recently that I feel like I need to be hypnotized because I can’t figure out why certain things aren’t coming to fruition.
You know, besides the macroeconomic conditions and rapid takeover by AI.
In my frustration, I recalled a program that I did in 2019 called To Be Magnetic. If you are a Millennial woman who consumes anything around manifestation, etc, you have probably heard of or seen their posts on social media.
To Be Magnetic is run by this woman named Lacy Phillips who pioneered this “science-backed” “neural manifestation” program. I put them in quotes because it’s what she says, not because I’m mocking or questioning it — though I still need to look into the neurologists they work with.
TBM bases their program on the idea that we don’t manifest from our conscious mind (thoughts) but from our subconscious beliefs that we developed primarily in our childhood. It mainly deals with the idea of neuroplasticity (“the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization”) so it works with rewriting your “limiting beliefs” so you can align with what you’re really trying to manifest in your life.
This program also includes these meditations that I think are really nice and help shift your brain waves into alpha or theta—slowing things down and supposedly getting into your subconscious. They claim to be slightly hypnotic which I sort of see having done them, but if anything I think they are just deeply deeply calming where you can really zone in on what the guide is saying during it.
Yesterday, I did a meditation and it asked me to picture the TV shows I watched when I was a kid (Food Network). Just as I’m picturing queen Ina Garten, the meditation says “these are the people who were your very first expanders” which in this program’s lingo means someone who first showed your brain that something you aspired to was possible. So, I literally burst out laughing during this meditation because my early influence was Ina prepping a roast chicken before Jeffrey got home from work. I mean, ya.
As far as Lucky Girl Syndrome goes in relation to this program above, the video below of Lucky Girl TikToker Laura Galebe kind of says it all to me:
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
She writes in her comment to “BE DELUSIONAL,” however it’s clear from the video that she is not delusional at ALL about the fact that she thinks only positive things happen to her. This girl definitely believes this in her subconscious.
AN IMPORTANT MENTION
While I’m on this topic of manifestation, I think it’s also important to recognize that a lot of times the people who talk about manifestation are people who already have some kind of privilege they are working from. They can tend to be people who grew up with financial resources, beneficial social networks, or access to the best schools that would then catapult their career. I am white and grew up upper middle class, so I do fall into the white lady wellness category (though I try, ppl!!!). So it’s important to keep in mind that everyone may be coming to this concept or work from very different places, if they even try to dabble in it at all. I would love to hear different people’s experiences with manifestation in the comments because I know it’s an even more nuanced topic once we get into socioeconomic, racial, and cultural corners.
SO, THAT’S IT FOR NOW
Well, I really went longer on this than I thought, but it’s issue 20, baby!!!!
I’d love to know your thoughts.
AND DON’T FORGET TO TAKE THE SURVEY!!!!!! by Friday at 5pm if you want a chance to win some goodies <3
See you next time.
LJ
Manifestation....aka FAITH??!! Another good one!