Manifesting is a form of magic and every spell has its specific ingredients, the first ingredient in my methodology is clarity.
Everything that is ever achieved begins with an idea. It must first be imagined before it can be created in the material world. We must have a clear vision of what we intend to manifest.
Nothing surprised me more, when I first started teaching the Visionary Life Workshop, than the difficulty, sometimes complete inability, my students had with the first exercise – writing out their ideal scene. This exercise is the practice of imagining what your perfect, most magical, amazing life would be five years in the future. I would instruct my students to think big, pull out all the stops and let their imaginations soar. I would say imagine there were no limits, if you could be, do and have anything, anything at all, what would it be?
...Silence would follow. ‘Really’ I would think, ‘you’ve got no ideas?!’
What I came to realize is that while I’ve always had a wild and free imagination, spending large portions of my days in daydreaming bliss, this apparently wasn’t the case for most. In fact I discovered that many of my students didn’t, not ever, allow themselves to wildly dream, they were firmly rooted in the practical world.
This is a strange phenomenon indeed and I think it has a lot to do with the way we’re conditioned. How many times have were our dreams shot down as children? How many times were we told to keep our feet on the ground and head out of the sky? Or ‘that would be a great hobby but you’ll need a real job’. Logic and rationality are praised above imagination and dreaming, at least that was the case when I was a kid. I don’t think that much has changed. I’ve watched my own kids beautiful imaginations become diluted by the pressure they feel to fit in, to ‘achieve’. Achieve what I wonder? Good grades, the ‘right’ college, a great career?
My position is that without imagination you’ve got exactly nothing. If you can’t see in your mind’s eye what you want to create you cannot make it manifest. However, if you have clarity, if you can picture it clearly, actually see the details in your imagination, bingo!, you’ve lit the fire of creation and tapped into the creative power of the Universe.
I use to build furniture and I would not only conceive every design in my mind’s eye, I would actually build the piece in my head before I ever drew out the design. I would lay in bed at night and figure out how I would fit the pieces together, I could practice, see what would work and what wouldn’t.
I use this same process for everything I want to create. I allow myself to dream be, I mean why not?! I conceive of the idea and then imagine all the different possibilities, how would it look, how would it feel, how would it be received, until I arrive at clarity. I then add the other essential ingredients; making sure my thinking is in alignment, I affirm and set intentions, I create visual tools to keep my vision fresh, I open myself to synchronicities and act on opportunities. And I trust the this or something better will happen in its own perfect time, because the Universe has my back and knows what’s best.
The same process can be used for absolutely anything so when I tell my students to imagine their ideal life, I guide them through a series of visualization exercises, helping them walk through different scenes, imagining how they feel, what they see, how it smells, what it sounds like, gathering as many details as possible.
Give this a try – Start with how you want your life to feel and build from there. Experiment by imagining yourself in different scenarios; where do you live? What does your house look like? How is it furnished? Who lives with you? Try imagining all the details. What kind of work are you doing? What would you feel passionate about? What would light you on fire in the morning? What are the qualities of your perfect partner? How you would spend your time together? How does she/he treat you? How do you feel in their presence? The possibilities are truly endless, we are only limited by our imaginations and the more detailed you can be the stronger the spell you cast.
Try journaling using free flow writing, not worrying about grammar or if what you’re writing makes sense of or sounds good, just let yourself flow.
Dream boarding is also a powerful practice and a way to loosen your imagination up. Instead of creating a ‘vision’ board with a specific idea in mind, a dream board helps reveal what your hearts desires are. Pick up a few magazines with pictures you like, pick up poster board and a glue stick at your local office supply. Once home set aside an hour or so, make yourself a cup of coffee or tea, or a glass of wine if that’s your jam, then set the intention of being inspired and flip through your magazines ripping out any images that you’re drawn to. Don’t think about it just rip out whatever appeals to you, there needn’t be a reason.
Once you have a nice pile start laying the pictures out on the poster board until you’re satisfied with the arrangement, I like to trim the edges myself so they’re neat and tidy, then start gluing. Once you’re done step back and take a look. What do you notice? Are there any themes? How does your dream board make you feel? Take a few moments to write down your observations. I’m betting you will find this exercise not only inspiring but incredibly insightful.
You are a powerful creator and it is within your power to create a life you’re madly in love with.