Manifestation: Passive and Active

“I’m having a bonfire at my house,” she said. “You should come! We’re having a new moon ceremony. It will be a magical time of manifesting and setting intentions. Bring your crystals!”

I inwardly rolled my eyes. “Yeah, sure, just send me the address and time, and I’ll be there,” I say.

“Okie, can’t wait to see you!”

There it was again. The word.

 Manifesting.

The “Power of Manifestation.” I hear about it all the time now. It was  one of those buzz words that you would pull out in conversation when attempting  to impress a hot yoga instructor. If  you ever just want to sound slightly enlightened in a coffee shop, all you have to do is say “I’ve been manifesting….” blah blah blah.
I’ve heard it so many times that it’s lost its meaning. Just another “wee–woo” mumbo-jumbo pie-in-the-sky, simple-minded method of coping with the fact that maybe life will never really give you what you want. And so, you “manifest.” You manifest more money, more success, deeper relationships, physical and emotional health, healing from past trauma. A new car, a new computer. Whatever you like. If you “manifest” hard enough, God, or the Universe, or Santa Clause, will magically place it at your feet.

The same goes for prayer. If you need something, want something, simply bow your head, close your eyes, speak words into the abyss of reality with the hopes that someone is not only listening, but cares enough about your struggle, pain, desires, and hopes, to actually do something about it. 

And then you just wait and see.

It all feels  a little too… childish.

I’m sure by now I’m coming across as quite the optimist here. Perhaps I’ve prayed one too many unanswered prayers. Perhaps I come from the hard-working, blue collar class of America who believes that if you want something, no one else is going to give it to you but you.

People with faith have always fascinated me. Mostly out of curiosity, but also out of jealousy.

What changed all of this for me was Where’s Waldo.

You know the picture book where you’re supposed to find that skinny, bespectacled smiling fool with the brown hair, red and white striped shirt, matching beanie, and a brown, leather messenger bag? The original predecessor for hipsters everywhere.

He’s usually in a landscape crammed with people of all types engaging in different activities. It’s a lot to take in at once, and it usually takes at least a few minutes to finally find that hipster fool smiling at you like a menace, hanging from a chandelier, or hiding behind an elephant, as if to say, “Here I am! What took you so long?”

Manifestation is like Where’s Waldo. 

If you were given a Where’s Waldo book, but didn’t know you were supposed to be searching for Waldo, you wouldn’t know what to do,  and, obviously, would never find Waldo. You’d look at the pictures, be slightly amused maybe by all the colors, people, shapes, and ideas. You’d flip through until the end, and then put it on a shelf, slightly confused and at a loss. There’d be no real point to the book. 

But once you know you’re supposed to be searching for something, suddenly the book takes on a whole new meaning. You become engaged in a way you never were before. It’s much more satisfying when you find him, and much more frustrating when you can’t. It’s the search that gives any meaning to the book at all.

I started to see Manifestation no longer as passive, wishful thinking, but as a Search. A Hunt. An active state of mind, where the subject of your search is always at the forefront of your attention. If I am on the lookout for Waldo, my chances of actually finding him are far greater than if I wasn’t looking for him at all. 

It’s simple, but profound. 

If I’m on the lookout for the object of desire, my chances of actually finding it are far greater than if I wasn’t looking at all. 

This is manifestation. 

My point here is not to throw any hatred towards the new-moon manifestation gatherings, or the daily mantras, or early morning prayers, or instagram posts about “manifesting five healthy habits for the new year,” but, on the contrary, to come to understand them in a new way. 

It begins by separating Manifestation into two parts: Passive and Active.

Passive Manifestation is the initial setting of intention. The realization and speaking outwardly of your desire. This is why “new moon ceremonies,” as my beloved friends call them, are so drastically important. It’s a powerful way to set an intention for the next amount of time, in this case, the next moon cycle.  It’s useful, but if it stops there, it’s meaningless. This is why Active Manifestation is equally, if not more, important.

Active Manifestation is the constant, daily setting of your mind to your intention. The “daily grind,” if you will.

For example, if my initial passive manifestation was, “I want to get more in shape. I’m gaining weight and don’t feel good in my body. I want to get healthier,” I wouldn’t stop there. I would need a plan. Maybe I would find a gym. Maybe I’d stop smoking so much. Maybe I’d find a personal trainer. I would actively seek out things in life that could help me make this manifestation a reality. 

I feel like I have seen so many of my friends make the mistake of stopping at the passive manifestation phase and then just wait and see what the universe brings them. If we can come to see manifestation, or prayer,  as the active setting of our hearts and minds to our desires, we will uncover the true, real magic and power of manifestation.