Adding Harmony to “Manifesting”

Post 40 – it turns “manifesting” into “visualizing”

Hello Friends,

In my post “Manifesting and a Flawed Argument against It,” I wrote about the recent craze among millions of Americans called “manifesting.”  Manifesting is a practice based on the belief that, through focused attention, you can manifest what you put your attention on.  “Manifesters” recognize a three-step process: have a clear vision of what you desire, act “as if” the desired outcome has already occurred, and maintain positive thoughts about it. 

Can we really bring things into our lives simply by exercising the right thoughts? Personal experience leads me to believe our thoughts can at least impact our circumstances.  However, the process may be more involved than outlined above.  Harmony and Gratitude seem to play important roles.

HARMONY

Adding Harmony to the mix, it makes sense to rename the practice “visualizing.”  To explain why, let me ask …

Have you ever wanted something really bad and regretted it when you got it?  Sometimes what we think we want turns out not good for us.  It doesn’t harmonize with our personality or circumstances.  If instead, we desire something in our lives, but “only if” it is harmonious to have it, the whole process becomes healthier, more powerful, and more realistic. 

THE VOLVO & THE KNAPSACK

Back in the 80s, many of my friends drove Volvos with clutches and manual chokes.  I wanted one in the worst way (I had a clear picture of what I desired).  I hung around my Volvo-owning friends and made myself a part of their gang (I acted “as if” I was already a Volvo owner).  And I knew – I just knew – that one day soon, I would own a Volvo myself (I maintained a positive attitude about this desire coming true).

Before long, I bought a used Volvo for $400.  And, I regretted it!  I love clutches because I am a clutch man.  No question about that.  But the carburetor never worked properly.  Sometimes it took me five to fifteen minutes to get the choke just right to start the car and keep it running.  That became a disaster when I tried to deliver pizza and my income depended on getting hot pies to customers as fast as possible.  Eventually, I couldn’t even move the car to the other side of the street on alternate side parking days.  I amassed over $100 in parking tickets, and finally paid someone $35 to tow it away.

If that old Volvo is still around today, it might look like this - except green

DISHARMONY

The Volvo was a disaster because I wasn’t a Volvo-with-a-manual-choke kind of guy.  I am a musical artist, teacher, author, and more.  But I am not a motorman.  I thought if I did what my motormen friends did, I would be cool and manly like them.  But me and this car?  We did not harmonize.  We didn’t resonate. 

So, with my last 400 bucks, I bought a bicycle and a knapsack.  They harmonized much better with my lifestyle at that time.  Now I could get around town without paying for insurance, gasoline, or car repairs.  And I borrowed a friend’s car to deliver pizza.  The $40 knapsack came with a lifetime warranty.  It has been replaced for free twice and today is one of my most treasured possessions.  Folks who have hosted me to stay at their houses while I’ve been on tour can attest to my bringing my knapsack everywhere I go.

AVOIDING DISASTER

Adding a desire for harmony into the mix may save us from disaster. 

Imagine someone puts positive thoughts into buying a particular “dream house” and the thoughts actually help make that desire a reality.  But suppose the “dream house” turns out to really be a “nightmare house.”  It needs serious fixing up and the new owner is not a fix-it-upper.  She and the house are a bad match.  If this match was made possible – at least in part - because she put “positive thoughts” into it, did she set herself up for this disaster?

But imagine she had added Harmony to the formula?  In addition to having a clear vision, acting “as if,” and maintaining positive thoughts about it, she also held a desire that this vision manifest in the most harmonious way, even if that means not manifesting at all. 

I’ll bet that would have changed everything.  Maybe Providence would have someone else snatch up the house before she could make an offer.  Maybe, a different, better house would suddenly become available.  Or maybe, she’d be more alert to warning signs that this house was a bad choice.  I’ll leave that for you to ponder.

THOUGHTS CAN WORK SUBCONSCIOUSLY

Regarding the Volvo, I may not have consciously employed the three steps of manifesting to make this car my own.  But subconsciously, I did.  And I did not hold a desire for this car “only if” it were harmonious with my personality and circumstances.  Had I done so, maybe that car would never have become available.  Or maybe when it did, I would have had the gnawing feeling that it was not a good idea to buy it.

IMPOSING WILLS vs. CREATING CIRCUMSTANCES

To me, the three steps of manifesting alone add up to forcing our will onto an outcome – “That car will be mine!”  And that can lead to disaster. But adding a desire for harmony to the process makes it an effort to create a circumstance – “I will do my part in thinking positively about owning this car, but let harmony prevail.”

There’s more to say. We can add Gratitude to the mix. And I’d love to share how I visualized my first big gig into a reality. Until then,

Keep the Flame Alive!