Sitting at McDonald’s enjoying an especially good cup of coffee today while watching the baby climb up and down the stairs. There are good commercial-free hits playing that are not at all depressing, which is like my main criteria for music but surprisingly hard to find on the radio in Seattle, which is why I end up listening to the same hip-hop station until the urge to dance starts messing with my fine motor abilities and the background of the songs start sounding super loud, like what happens when you get a really high fever.
Went to the store today with my husband. It was in a large shopping complex that was very busy. I parked far away from the door thinking that it was my only option, then waited with the baby in the car so he could sleep while my husband shopped. After a while my husband came back and told me to repark the car because there were lots of spaces in front. I drove where he told me to and there were like eight free spots. I parked in the one closest to the front door and was then able to go in and out of the store to check on the baby while helping my husband pick out some lighting.
Took the baby for a walk in the cold (as I am in the habit of doing) yesterday. Surprisingly, he got cold and even more surprisingly, he started crying. Faced with the option of carrying a quiet baby while pushing a stroller or pushing a crying baby in a stroller, I chose carrying. Some people walking by gave me nasty looks (or at least I imagined the did) and I found myself thinking, In this situation some people would be sympathetic and some people would be judgmental. Then right after I had that thought a nice lady offered to push the stroller for me while I carried the baby. While we walked I thought, But the real question is: Which kind of person am I?
Guest contributor: Evan Griffith of NotesforCreators.com. Evan’s blog “shares insights on the connected creative life” and is one of my personal favorites.
One day, I was driving to Houston to deliver artwork to a client. The delivery had to be there no later than 7 p.m. that evening. After that no one would be available to receive the art.
It was an enjoyable day, with a great rhythm of rest stops and breaks to make it relaxing . . . .
Until I discovered I’d been driving the wrong direction for an hour . . . putting me two hours out of whack.
I plotted it out. I could maybe possibly just make my destination by the cutoff time that evening . . . if only everything went perfectly well. To the minute.
About 45 minutes later I became aware that while I’d been driving I’d had this demi-conscious thought pattern whispering at me in the background the whole time:
There are going to be traffic problems through the cities.
There’s bad weather along the gulf coast. Everything’s going to slow wayyyyy down. Maybe stop.
There will be accidents.
If you don’t make this delivery tonight, you’re schedule will be thrown way behind. There’s no way you’re going to make it.
This is really going to cost you.
It was a running litany of all the things that could go wrong. Whispering at me from my own mind!
I shouted at this part of my mind – at myself essentially – to shut up. With choicer language.
It quieted down for awhile. Then when my attention drifted the little fucker started right back up.
You’re not going to maaake it. You’re not going to maaaake it!
My inner self is a four-year old.
I knew I had to substitute the programming . . . and commenced speaking about all the things that could go right. I whispered aloud every possible event I could think of that could go my way.
And they did. Through cities and towns and traffic and patches of bad weather. The drive unspooled with wonderful fluidity. I made it with five minutes to spare.
(!)
This was a wake up . . . about how much power my Whisper Self was leeching away from me. After that I caught my Whisper Self repeatedly soft speaking away about this could-be awful thing or that might-turn-out-badly possibility . . .
Now I train this Whisper Self to speak rightly . . . about everything that can and will go right. It’s had an amazing effect on how things turn out — some that border on the miraculous.
Currently reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle for like the fourth time. Every time I read it, life is just better. And so, my current plan is to just always be reading it.
I have an a dream, that despite all pragmatic and empirical realities no one can tell me that I cannot have one day. Within me is belief and also self-doubt, yet the calling is undeniable. What has helped me so far as the most helpful coping mechanism imaginable, and what I believe is the key to achieving this ultimate goal, is understanding and practicing the law of attraction.
I grew up in a normal suburban town outside Boston, certainly a town in a bubble. There was a Stetson piano in the basement which I recall, at a very young age of 4 or 5, banging on and belting out gibberish. A warm ethereal feeling overcame me, starting in my chest and it permeated my entire body, warming every organ, every cell. I can still get that feeling to this day when I am lost in a song.
With music as my motivation, I am on a life-long journey. Using law of attraction, I have thus far built a community of musicians in my local area, obtained gigs at the level of playing out 2/3 times a week, started a band, obtained a certificate in Audio Engineering and self-produced and released my debut solo EP. This has all been achieved while holding down a full time job and owning a home. Positive energy sets forth a high vibration in the universe which will return to you more vibration at that energy level. Basically, you attract what circumstances come into your life by your energy level, which is essentially your predominant thoughts.
Significant effort must be made in the realm of self-improvement in order to achieve the right mindset, it does not happen overnight. Some may be predisposed to the right mindset, with good role models who went through the process themselves, whether consciously or not, and I believe the right mindset is exactly what is needed in order to achieve what you want out of life.
I became interested in the law of attraction a few years ago. I was searching for meaning out of life and trying to find a way out of my day job, which I am still at to this day. I remember well when I first started seeing it work, though it took a while to get it to start working. At first, my mind was swimming with contradictory thoughts, which still happen, though are much more manageable. Once I was able to slow down the contradictory thoughts, I was able to focus on my values and map out my ideal life. Visualizing, thinking up every detail, and remaining positive while monitoring your thoughts are important aspects of allowing the law of attraction to work for you.
About two and a half years ago, I started by hosting an open mic with the idea that it could be a jam session, which strangers who have never played together joining on stage and supporting each other, creating music for the audience. For about the first 4 months of the gig, which my friend George (who is twice my age) and I ran on a Sunday, there was no one there besides us, the bar tender and the a couple waitresses. We didn’t even get paid in those days as no one came! Despite all reason, I believed in the open mic and stayed positive every Sunday for about 6 months.
People started showing up, and things were getting good. Though, it took a while to actually get a jam session going, which is what I really wanted. I remember the first few jams, the feeling in my chest I felt as a kid returned, even stronger due to the mixture of individuals and the immensity of the sound we were getting. Before we knew it, there was a crowd there every night and we began having these crazy jam sessions with up to seven or eight people in them. Saxophones, mandolins, harmonicas, hand drums, a flutist, violins and of course plenty of guitars created these amazing jam sessions every Sunday.
The open mics have been consistently strong ever since. I have expanded it to another bar and host on Tuesdays as well now. I formed a band with some friends and an amazing guitarist, who happened to live right down the street from me, who I met through the open mic and we play 2/3 times a month around the local area. If I didn’t attract that into my life, then I don’t know what!! I’ve completed an apprenticeship in Audio Engineering at a studio in Boston during this time period. I’ve made connections and been inspired by so many local musicians, which is something I have always wanted. I’ve created a home recording studio where I am recording some of the artists from the open mics. And lastly, I am releasing an EP of my original music titled ROOFTOP, The Musty Rustic EP.
It’s hard work, this LOA business, don’t be fooled. For many, conditioning has set us on a course which opposes our ability to dive into attracting what you want out of life naturally and easily. Not to mention, working on yourself is one of the hardest things to do, and requires great patience, which is why I believe many people just settle for their life circumstances, never realizing they are creating the very things they do not want in their life by choosing to focus on them, rather than focusing on what they do want. The problem is when people try to think of what they do want, the tendency is to think of it in terms of not having it, or not being able to have it. Instead, the trick is to think of it as something you already have, something that is within your abilities. That slight difference is humungous. You can choose to think however you want, why not choose the best possible thoughts and outcomes?
So, the Seattle Seahawks won the superbowl a few weeks back and apparently this was a pretty big deal around here. Wish I could tell you that I was one of the 700,000 people that was crowded along a two-mile stretch of downtown Seattle in 30-degree weather to admire the players and take 45 minutes to get across the street, but honestly, it probably sounded more fun than it actually was.
Anyway, I heard the fireworks. That was probably just as cool.
In any case I should probably tie this back to spirituality somehow so here’s something cool and spiritual about the Seahawks I enjoyed reading: Get on the Field
One of my long-term life goals is to walk for like a month straight, stopping only to sleep and eat, Forrest Gump-style. If I had cool adventures (which of course I would), I would write a book about it. This is the first time I have told anyone this. Surprisingly, I am not embarrassed.
Last weekend I went to the Microsoft store to buy a phone. In order to set it up the sales associate had to reset my Live ID password and retrieve the new one from my email. He was nice and otherwise very professional but he kept opening the wrong email. In retrospect I realize that he must have been spying on me.
“I had this really bad nail fungal infection that for more than five years I struggled to clear without success. I went to several doctors, tried creams and oils, took some very strong pills and even removed the nail twice. A box of the tablets to kill the fungus used to cost me about $100 and would last me only forty-five days. I took it for three years with little or no results until my doctor told me to stop because it was starting to cause liver damage.
“Then a couple of years ago I came across The Secret. After watching the movie I decided to try it out on my sick nail. For the next three weeks I would visualize a healthy, pink toenail and be grateful for that. I started painting my toenails so I wouldn’t have to look at the ugly nail again and after one week my nail started changing from bluish-greenish, disgusting gray, to healthy pink. In three weeks there were no more signs of the fungus. No medication, no creams–just a little nail polish and lots of positive thinking.
“Since that time, I have applied The Secret to other areas of my life with great success. I now have a very solid, loving relationship with my husband of twelve years, a beautiful daughter who will tell me how much she loves me every five minutes (no kidding!), and the healthy, prosperous, happy life that has always been intended for me.”
In How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body, scientist and law of attraction practitioner David Hamilton shares the story of Pauline who, during one of Hamilton’s workshops, sent loving, healing energy to her daughter.
Her name was Cloe, and just the day before she had been diagnosed with asthma. Along with the diagnosis she was prescribed antibiotics, steroids, and an inhaler.
What’s worse: she was just four years old.
“When I was doing the healing, I actually felt it being sent to Chloe and became excited,” Pauline writes. She says that she could practically see and feel her daughter’s DNA change color and shape.
The following day, Pauline awoke to Chloe’s usual kiss. Then something not quite so usual occurred: Chloe announced that she’d been healed.
Her breathing had cleared up and so had her cough, she told Pauline.
“One early June Sunday afternoon, taking a lunch break from fixing some holes in the roof, I sat down on my back porch. Relaxing and eating a sandwich, I enjoyed my view of some woods that backed up pretty close to the house. Halfway through my roast beef, I noticed a cute little bunny peering from the shrubs about twelve feet away … I had a compelling thought that I’d like to pet the cute guy …
“Since I had the whole summer at my disposal, I decided to try an experiment. Could I coax this cute little bunny up onto my back porch? I knew that this rabbit would be very cautious, but I also knew I could probably tempt him if I kept offering him some delicious fare.
“Almost every day that summer I laid out a small carrot or other vegetable for the little bunny. And I moved his food a little closer to my porch every time–careful not to overdo it or move too fast, so as not to spook him and ruin the experiment … By early August I was excitedly laying the carrot very close to my back porch steps. When I finally moved the meal to the steps, themselves, I could hardly wait to see the bunny complete my goal.
“On August 22nd, at 3:30 p.m., that little guy finally got up on my back porch and claimed some cherry tomatoes for himself. it took him about three minutes to decide to climb all the way onto the porch, but by gosh, he was up there. I had achieved my goal–and my furry friend had feasted luxuriously all summer to help me do it …
“As proud of myself as I was, little did I know that I’d done something even more profound than train a wild animal. I had created a foundational model for how to unlock the law of attraction’s greatest potential for influencing our material reality … Just as I did with my friend the bunny, I later learned how to lure my subconscious into believing new things that are aligned with some of my greatest desires in a wide array of areas.”
In this post I wrote about the Mattress Land my husband and I made in our bedroom. You know, for our kid. But there are other cool things about having a kid, too. Here are a few:
I get to build forts (why did I ever stop doing that)?
I get to hear my husband sing.
I always have a great excuse as to why I didn’t have time to meditate.
Contributor: D/C Russ of align-mentality.com. For more cool stuff like this experiment, subscribe to D/C Russ’ mailing list by emailing dc@align-mentality.com. He’ll email you two or three times a month with awesome quests, experiments, and inspirational articles. In addition, members of The Ascension Guild will receive all of my high-quality ebooks for free.
Main Objective:
To put the Law of Attraction to the test by attempting to manifest a black and orange feather within 30 days.
Sub Goals:
Bolster my faith in the universe. Give others some evidence of The Law of Attraction. Obtain a data point about how to manifest.
Duration:
10 days (01/01/14-01/10/14)
Background:
I was reading a book about a guy who repeated an experiment that he read in another book. I can’t remember the name of either book. But the idea was to manifest a blue feather into existence.
I recall the author mentioning that he’d never even seen a blue feather before. And manifesting one would be a true testament to the power of The Law of Attraction.
The man set the intention for the feather to manifest within a given time frame (one month). He firmly set the intention and wrote it down on paper. In addition, he kept an evidence journal in which he would write any clues that indicated to him that the universe was indeed working hard to fulfill his order.
For the first few days, he diligently visualized the feather morning and night. He would spend several minutes imagining himself already in possession of the feather. He put all of his senses into imagining the feather already being a part of his reality: he saw himself holding it, stroking it, and even tickling himself with it.
After just a few days, though, the man began losing interest in the feather. He stopped doing the visualizations and he didn’t record anything in his evidence journal.
But then something magical happened, he stumbled across a feather that caught his eye. The only problem was that it wasn’t quite blue. Instead of getting discouraged, he noted this in his evidence journal.
A couple weeks later, after having totally forgot about the feather, he was backing out of his driveway one morning when suddenly two blue birds landed on the hood of his car and began fighting each other!
And wouldn’t you know it: when they flew away, there was his blue feather!
I remember reading this story and commenting to my wife at how silly it was to me. “Yeah right,” I said cynically. “The Law of Attraction doesn’t work like that,” I boasted.
Later that day, I decided that it wasn’t quite fair for me to discredit this man’s testimony without at least giving it a shot myself.
Besides, I was already intending on doing a 30-day Law of Attraction experiment on January 1st. My good friend and comrade, James Weaver, wrote a book about his own 30-Day Attraction Experiment (available here). The success he experienced inspired me to give it a shot on my own.
So I decided, what the heck…why not just add a feather on my list as well? So I did. But I thought a black and orange feather would be way cooler than a blue one.
“Where am I even gonna find a black and orange feather anyway,” I remember commenting to my wife. She said, “They exist, I’ve totally seen them before.” I replied, “But I’ve never even seen one in my entire life, how in the world am I going to manifest one, especially in Los Angeles!?”
As far as I was concerned, there was no way that I was actually going to manifest a black and orange feather. But, hey, I’ll give it a shot anyway.
Hypothesis:
If I set the intention to manifest a black and orange feather, then it’s feasible that it will present itself into my reality.
Assumption:
There is a certain mindset you have to have when it comes to manifesting something. The mindset you have can either make or break it for you.
Method:
1) Set the intention to manifest a black and orange feather.
2) Write “black and orange feather” down on my ‘January Attraction Experiment’ list.
3) Carry this list with me inside my evidence journal.
4) Write down any clues that may indicate that the universe is fulfilling my intention.
*** Note that I did not do any visualizations, mantras, or affirmations. ***
Results (click image to expand):
I Manifested a Black and Orange Feather
Did my hypothesis pass?
Yes, even though it was a rather weak hypothesis. Still though, I wanted my hypothesis to convey my detached, matter-of-fact mindset going into this experiment.
Analysis:
There are a lot of important features that went into this manifestation. The first was the fact that the black and orange feather was on a list of four other items that I wanted to manifest. In fact, the black and orange feather was the thing that I cared the least about.
Every time I thought about visualizing the feather, I was overcome with a “ugh…no way…”. I would have rather spent my time visualizing the manifestation that I truly and deeply cared about. But as it turned out, this level of detachment may very well have been the reason that I was able to manifest the feather in the first place.
As it stands now, I’m still waiting on everything else on my ‘January Attraction Experiment’ list to manifest. The feather only took 10 days to manifest. And it was effortless. I didn’t get excited about it, I didn’t write a single thing down in my evidence journal, and I hardly even thought about it.
Conclusion:
You might be wondering why the feather is depicted in a Bible. Well that’s a funny story.
I haven’t read a single word in the Bible in almost 10 years! But my mom, who has been getting into church and scripture lately, decided to buy me a Bible for Christmas.
She thought I could use a Bible of my own. It ended up coming at the right time for me because I had decided that reading the Bible could be a valuable outlet for strengthening my relationship with God and with myself. So I was very grateful for the gift.
And when I received it in the mail, it took almost two whole days for me to even realize that the feather was stuck inside it, at the very page that’s depicted in the above picture.
My mom was at a remote lake somewhere in Missouri when she came across a few feathers on the ground. Attracted by their beauty, she decided to pick them up and take them home. She simply tossed them in a decorative shot glass on her bookshelf, where they sat for many months.
A few days before sending me the Bible, my mom decided she needed a change of decor. So she grabbed all of her old decorations, including the feathers, and stuck them in a box to be stored in the basement.
Well she accidentally dropped one of the feathers.
The next day, she went to send the Bible to me. But before packaging it, she wanted to mark one of the most popular passages of the Bible, John 3:16. Just as she was going to go searching for a book mark, her eye caught the feather sitting there on the ground in the corner of the room.
“Perfect!” she thought as she swiped it up and tossed it in the Bible.
I told her about it and she was really delighted. All in all, it was a pretty cool moment to discover the feather in my Bible after it arrived in the mail.
In fact, I didn’t even make the connection at first. I saw a gap in the pages of the Bible and I turned to that gap. “Hmm, a feather,” I observed casually. And as I went to set it aside to read the passage that was marked by the feather, my wife exclaimed, “That’s it!”
“Huh? OH…wow!!”
She said, “That’s the feather that I was talking about! That’s the exact type of feather that I was thinking of when I told you that black and orange feathers really do exist!”
We both sat humored at the fact that my intention appeared to work. Call it a coincidence if you want, but nothing can deny the fact that I set an intention to receive a black and orange feather…and got one!
One thing that’s cool about having a kid is that instead of having a regular bed you have two big mattresses on the floor with nothing else in the room, especially lamps.
Yup, that’s right. We sleep in Mattress Land. And yes–yes it is completely awesome.
I would write something funny today but on Saturday the movie theater I was in caught on fire and I am still traumatized. Not because anyone got hurt. But because I was the only one who went to an unblocked exit.
Went to church today and was reminded that now that so many of my 2013 affirmations have come true, it’s time to start a new batch. I’m not going to share them all but here are a few:
Thank you, God, that my business is exploding this year (in a good way) and that my income from my books equals my client writing income.
Thank you, God, that I have several very close girlfriends.
Thank you, God, that I am in constant communication with the Divine.
Thank you, God, that several of the books I’m working on currently are finished.
Thank you, God, that any depression that I used to feel is gone.
