You Can Do Magic. Kind Of.

Theme song: You Can Do Magic

Hello, friends. We are here today to talk about the Power of Positive Thinking.

This is a topic I hope you will resonate with and respond to because, frankly, I find it confusing and would love to manifest your input.

“The realisation that limitations are imaginary will make you strong and overpowering.” -- Stephen Richards

I copied the above quote from Goodreads. It came accompanied with this set of tags:

• law-of-attraction
• mind-body-spirit
• mind-power
• money
• motivational
• new-age
• new-thought
• positive-thinking
• self-empowerment
• self-help
• self-help-book
• self-improvement
• self-motivation
• stephen-richards
• wealth
• wealth-creation
• worthy

Question: Did you notice how many of them are associated with money? Why is that? Why don't the tags include, "enlightenment," "empathy," "freedom from neurosis," and "world peace?"

I'm telling you, the focus on money causes me to feel suspicious. If I am to manifest something important, is money where my attention should be?

Realistically and no offense to those who think differently, money is boring.

Between money and the ability to dance like Anna Pavlova or write like Leo Tolstoy (not to pick on Russians), while I'm manifesting, I'd like to manifest a few things it seems money just can't buy. Like talent. Or raw genius. Just saying.

Question: Who here thinks that money makes you free?

I was reading The Souls of Black Folk last night and W.E.B. DuBois in that book laments (and I quote), "the sudden transformation of a fair far-off ideal of Freedom into the hard reality of bread-winning and the consequent deification of Bread."

When I was married I didn't even think about Freedom. When I divorced I felt free for the first time in my life -- a strange sensation for someone who never wanted to be free. Well, I took to that crazybeautiful freedom thing like a duck takes to water. Let's call it the adolescence I never had.

Yet, at the end of the day, necessity has vied for my attention at the cost of my lofty Yoga teacher ideals and I have resolutely refused to deify Bread (of course, coming from San Francisco, I try to be gluten free).

People -- and I'm referring here to a refusal to deify Bread and not to my less successful attempts to avoid consuming it -- it's not easy.

Anyone who has been a lifelong wage earner knows this better than I do. Some of you have probably already deified Bread -- it wouldn't occur to most of us not to.

In the grander scheme than my little world, DuBois' fear is a good, solid fear that seems to have been encouraged by capitalism and borne out by history.

Besides, who here is free?

If you are not seeking money, you are still seeking water, food, clothing and shelter. You may also want more education than you can get from a library or supplies to make great art. Or, for all I know, access to good-enough medical care.

Maybe, if you truly understand as Stephen Richards contends, that there are no limitations, you can forgo not only water, food, clothing, shelter, medical care and, hey, let's throw in the need for sleep, by manifesting the non-need for those things through The Power of Positive Thinking.

Question: In that case, will you still be human and is being human necessary -- or even desirable?

I'm not trying to be mean or even silly. What I'm asking is: What values are represented by most of the people who focus on this idea of manifestation? Could they be "barking up the wrong tree?" Or is this line of questioning an example of how I, in fact, am the one doing the misguided barking?

Here's the thing: I truly get that, if, for example, you are a slave, Freedom will not come any faster if you sit around saying that your situation is hopeless and you will never be free.

We need positive thinking.

We need "unrealistic" people. It takes courage, and maybe horse blinders, to think of yourself as the exception. Or to strive for justice in an unfair world.

Here's an example:

I recently came to the understanding that I needed to, horrors, sell to make my business efforts successful.

Books on how to sell (I'm reading a good one right now, by the way, called OutSell Yourself (Nope. I'm not an affiliate.) almost always encourage "positive thinking." Why?

It just won't work to say, "I can't sell a thing. No one is going to buy from me. And, besides, I hate selling."

Realistically (there's that word again), we are all selling something and that something might be as simple as a spoonful of baby food to a hungry child.

Belief in yourself is an important part of success. It won't work to say, "There's no way this child will eat from a spoon when they can have warm, juicy milk straight from the breast."

You have to believe. . . but, then again, that may be somewhat different from "manifesting."

Question: What about things that seem like they are always present, but just change form?

I'll use slavery, again, as an example. We don't have slaves who are shipped from Africa to work sugar and cotton plantations. Yet there are more slaves living now than lived during the whole period we call "slavery."

I know it's a scary topic but what's the take home?

What does the existence of modern day slavery mean about the Power of Positive Thinking? Did slaves in the 1800s accidentally manifest the wrong thing? Should they have perhaps asked, like the Buddhists, that all beings be free?

For all I know, they did, and the Universe hasn't yet caught up with the request.

All of this brings me to the question I feel is most important (which is, drum roll. . .).

Question: What about the Mystery?

I've told the following story in this blog already, but here's a recap:

I was at the peak of the highest level of "positive thinking" when the worst thing that has ever happened to me took place. That's right.

My daughter, Chloe, died when I was bathed in bliss and feeling more connected to the Universe than ever I had.

People, I can't make hide nor tails of that one. But certainly a positive attitude on my part didn't keep her alive because she's not.

Here's my conclusion: "Manifesting" is about materialism (i.e., I want what I want when I want it and and I can control everything and I know what's most important) and life is, in my opinion, bigger, grander and more mysterious than that.

Your Turn

What am I missing here? I'm asking you, my readers, to make the case for manifesting. Please.