I Think There’s Something to This Manifestation Thing

I’m not saying you can think your wildest dreams into existence. But I’ve seen some pretty interesting things happen when I started believing they could.

If you find the title of this article off-putting and it immediately makes you imagine a hippy from the 1970s sitting barefoot in a field somewhere, I see you.

I get it.

But hear me out, because I legitimately think there might be something to this hippy-dippy manifestation thing.

First, let me be very clear: I am not an expert on manifestation.

I’m not a spiritual teacher. I don’t have a certification in manifesting. I haven't written a book about it.

I’m basically a curious novice who has been playing around with the idea for years.

And honestly, that’s why I wanted to write about it.

In the simplest possible terms, manifestation is the idea that you can use your thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and attention to help create the reality you want.

There are versions of manifestation that suggest we can literally think things into existence—that if we imagine and feel our wildest dreams hard enough, the universe will deliver them to our doorstep.

Reader, keep reading.

Don’t leave before the miracle. LOL

But seriously, I don't know that I believe it works quite that literally.

I've had some experiences that have made me wonder if there really is something to this whole thing.

And I may have been introduced to this whole idea earlier than I realized.

I was raised by a hippy.

My mother used to fluff our auras and tell us to “think positive” practically every day.

These days, she’s still at it.

When I’m struggling with something, she’ll tell me to ask the universe for clarity. When I bring her a difficult situation, she’ll tell me that everything is as it should be and that I just need to know—truly feel—that it will all work out for the best.

BTW, this is incredibly annoying advice when you are in the middle of a difficult situation.

But there’s a part of me that believes she might be right.

Here's My Experience

In 2020, when we were forced to spend months inside our homes, it became pretty clear to my husband and me that it was time to move into a larger house.

The problem was that there was very little on the market, which made the search difficult.

Eventually, though, we found it.

Our dream home.

It was the right size. The right location. And while it was a little over our budget, it was still within financial reach.

It was also the only house we could find that checked all of our boxes.

We decided that if this one didn't work out, we'd pull out of the market and stay put.

The problem?

It was love at first sight.

We were instantly emotionally invested, and our offer was competing against five others.

One was an all-cash offer.

We had several contingencies, including the sale of our current home and getting approved for a mortgage.

So, we did what you do.

We wrote a love letter to the sellers explaining why we would love their beautiful home and thrive there, complete with photos of us with our grandchildren.

And then we put our faith in our realtor.

But that's not where I stopped.

I went into manifestation mode.

I started imagining Christmas celebrations with our grandchildren.

Thanksgivings surrounded by family.

Birthday celebrations.

The ordinary little moments that I hoped would happen in that house.

But I didn't just picture them.

I started to feel them.

I'd imagine one of those future Christmas mornings and feel my heart well up. I'd actually smile.

I wasn't just imagining our future.

For a few moments, I was actually feeling it.

We didn't own the house.

We didn't even know if we'd get the house.

But in my mind—and, more importantly, in my body—I was already there.

And against the odds, we got the house.

But here's the part that really gets me.

We got it through a series of circumstances that I could never, in a million years, have figured out on my own.

Here's what happened:

The selling agent happened to be friends with the sellers.

And that agent happened to have another friend who was looking for exactly the kind of house we were selling.

So, our two agents made a deal.

Even though we had five offers on our house at the time—and one of those was a cash offer—we chose the selling agent's friend.

And the sellers chose us.

Just like that, the whole thing came together.

Was that manifestation?

I think so.

A skeptic might say it was coincidence.

Maybe it was timing.

Maybe it was simply a series of circumstances that happened to fall perfectly into place.

But I can't deny that the experience made me a believer.

And this is the thing I find most interesting about manifestation.

There are infinite ways for something to happen.

We tend to imagine one very specific path between where we are and where we want to be.

This is how I'm going to get there.

But what if it doesn't happen that way?

What if the path we can't see is actually the one that gets us there?

That's where manifestation gets interesting to me.

Manifestation Doesn't Mean Sitting on the Couch Waiting for Your Miracle

Let's be clear about something.

You still have to do the work.

We would not be living in our dream home if we hadn't found it, made an offer, written the letter, applied for the mortgage, sold our house, gone through inspections, and done approximately seventeen million other annoying logistical things.

Manifestation didn't replace action.

Action was required.

And I think that's important because I don't believe you can simply sit on your couch, visualize your dream career, and wait for someone to call and offer you the job.

If you want a particular career, you still have to get the credentials.

Update the resume.

Apply.

Interview.

Learn.

Network.

Do the work.

But maybe there's another piece to the equation.

Maybe instead of obsessing over exactly how we're going to get where we want to go, we can get really clear about where we want to go—and how we want it to feel when we get there.

Then we take the next logical step in front of us.

And then the next.

And we stay open to the possibility that the path might look very different from the one we imagined.

That's essentially how I've come to think about manifestation.

I'm not an expert, but after years of playing with the idea, these are my personal rules of the game.

My Five Rules for Manifestation

1. Know what you want.

Get clearer than you think you need to be.

Don't just say, “I want to be happy.”

What does happy actually look like?

What does your life look like?

How do you spend your days?

Who are you surrounded by?

What do you have time for?

What does it feel like?

The clearer you can get, the more real the vision becomes.

2. Feel what it would feel like to have it.

This is the part that interests me most.

Don't just picture the thing.

Picture yourself living it.

And then pay attention to what you feel.

Excitement? Relief? Pride? Gratitude? Freedom? Peace?

Let yourself experience those feelings now, rather than making them entirely dependent on some future event.

3. Spend time there.

Revisit the vision.

Often.

Imagine having the thing you want. Imagine living the life you want. Let yourself feel as though it's possible—even if you have absolutely no idea how you're going to get there.

You're not trying to fool yourself.

You're giving yourself permission to imagine and feel a different reality.

4. Don't obsess over the how.

This one is hard.

Especially for those of us who like to have a plan.

I want to know the steps.

I want the spreadsheet.

I want the timeline.

I want to know exactly how A is going to lead to B and B is going to lead to C.

But sometimes there are paths we simply can't see from where we're standing.

So do the indicated steps in front of you.

Take action.

Pay attention.

Follow opportunities.

And leave a little room for the possibility that things might unfold differently than you expected.

5. Wait for the miracle.

Okay, yes.

This one sounds very hippy.

But I kind of love it.

Once you've gotten clear about what you want, connected with how it feels, and taken the actions you can take, there comes a point when you have to let go a little.

Trust.

Stay open.

Keep moving.

And believe that something is possible before you have evidence that it is.

Not because you know exactly how it's going to happen.

But because you don't.

And maybe that's the fun part.

Ready to Get Clear on What You Want?

If you’re feeling pulled toward a different kind of life in this next chapter, the free Soul Reset Workbook can help you slow down, reflect, and get clearer about what matters to you now.

What I'm Manifesting Now

I'm currently manifesting Second Act's growth.

And yes, I realize how ridiculously meta that sounds.

I'm imagining the day when Second Act has a certain number of subscribers.

A certain number of published articles.

A community of women who actually look forward to hearing from me.

I'm imagining the pride I'll feel when I look back and realize that something I started with a laptop, a lot of ideas, and approximately zero clue what I was doing actually became something real.

I'm spending time in those feelings now.

Not because I think imagining subscribers will magically cause them to appear.

But because I want to know what it feels like to believe that this thing that I'm building will actually work.

Maybe that matters.

Maybe it changes what we notice.

Maybe it changes the actions we take.

Maybe it makes us more willing to keep going when the evidence isn't there yet.

Or maybe my mother really has been right all these years and the universe is listening.

Honestly?

At this point, I'm willing to find out.

What are you wanting?

And are you curious enough to test out this whole manifestation thing with me?

Ready to Reset Your Second Act?

You don’t have to figure out your next chapter all at once. The free Second Act Reset Guide gives you simple prompts and exercises to help you reflect on where you are, what matters now, and what you want next.