Why I have beef with the term “manifest”
In the context of self-development, the word “manifest” makes me think of little princes and princesses waving wands, expecting purple ponies to appear.
One of my best friend’s word of the moment is manifesting. “If I do this or that, if I change my attitude, then I maybe can start manifesting…[love, the ideal career, more money, more interesting friends, more travel etc.] in my life” is how it goes. She’s enrolled is something called the To Be Magnetic program — a coaching program that, in the words of one of its founders, teaches people how to “get in touch with (their) authentic self. (As) that will be the vehicle that will take (them) to manifesting.” I haven’t tried the program so I won’t knock it, but I have beef with the idea of manifesting.
Why? Because it strikes me as a shallow, “genie in the bottle” approach to living in a world where many people never get what they want, and a great deal do not even have the things they need.
Psychology Today describes manifesting as “the idea that, through the power of belief, we can effectively ‘think’ a goal into becoming reality. It’s a form of ‘magical thinking,’ or the need to believe that one’s hopes and desires can have an effect on how the world turns.”
Something about the use of the word “manifest” in the context of self-development makes me…
