On Manifestation, Divine Timing, and Patience

What you want is here. Yellow Brick Road.

Credit: Ethel Moore

Welcome to Yellow Brick Road, an exploration of the guided path!!

We are constantly co-creating with the Universe. We are always manifesting - but what does that mean? Bitches be like “I’m manifesting,” and then literally emit the least tethered energy I’ve ever been around. I’ve been bitches and I have grace for bitches, so let’s talk about it!

First, I have to drop my favorite song about manifestation here:

Wake up in my bed
I just wanna have a good day
Think it in my head
Then it happens how it should, ayy
Twelve o'clock, I got a team meeting
Then a meditation at like one thirty
Then I ride to the studio
Listenin' to some shit I wrote

Good karma, my aesthetic (aesthetic)
Keep my conscience clear, that's why I'm so magnetic
Manifest it (yeah), I finessed it (I finessed it)
Take my pen and write some love letters to heaven

Just like magic (baby)
Just like magic (oh, yeah)
Middle finger to my thumb and then I snap it
Just like magic (yeah)
I'm attractive (oh, yeah)
I get everything I want 'cause I attract it (oh)

Say, lookin' at my phone
But I'm tryna disconnect it (oh, yeah)
Read a fuckin' book
I be tryna stay connected (yeah)
Say it's tricky at the top
Gotta keep a slim ego for a thick wallet
Losing friends left and right
But I just send 'em love and light (oh, whoa)

Was it necessary to post the lyrics to the whole song? Yes. Do I feel Ar*ana Grande actually unlocked several nuanced agreements with the Universe in this song? Also, yes.

I’ve been reflecting on what manifestation is and how much my perception of manifestation has shifted since I started taking responsibility for my own energy and path. I used to believe the act of manifestation is essentially getting what I want. But the laws of energy, an infinite and active source, would imply manifestation is something we are pretty much always doing in dedication of our purpose to receive love as much as possible. Weirdly, I do think Just Like Magic perfectly encapsulates the simplicity and ease of being in such flow with the Universe, community, and joy that you don’t have to wish on a star to have what you want - you’re walking in your manifestation every day.

Manifestation is not wish-granting, per se. It’s not rubbing your hand on the Universe’s belly and receiving luck in return. Honoring manifestation teaches us to replace fear with patience and trust that everything intended for us (which is so often much bigger and brighter than we give ourselves credit for) will make its way to our doorstep. Honoring the reality that what we seek is also seeking us; we just need to get ourselves on the path of least resistance.

Control is the resistance, always. Humans insert control in the language of love and healing in the most insidious ways, but control has no belonging in flow. I put a capital C in control, so I get the impulse. Even my spiritual practice in its earliest stages was another ruse to dictate outcomes that were never intended to be foreseen because that’s not the point. The point is presence and the ability to see the magic that’s unraveling before you at any stage of your growth, as Miss Grande specifies in the second verse.

Mastering manifestation is understanding how limitless we actually are and how limited our consciousness can be. When we say “I’m manifesting,” what are we actually grounding into reality? Is it possible to manifest something not really for you? Is it possible to miss your manifestation? How do we ever truly know what is aligned for us? What parts of ourselves are seeking to validate old stories and narratives with New Age spiritualist masks? The only way to unlock the truth is to keep living.

What are the conditions of manifestation and what causes our desires to come to fruition?

still.life

A post shared by @still.life

Manifestation requires consistency, purity, diligence, specificity, surrender, shedding, and trust.

As stated, manifestation is not getting what you want when you want it without conditions or cause. Because abundant energy does not just move for us alone. It moves for the collective, it moves for the highest good, for our highest good. And frankly, we don’t always move for our highest good. We don’t always move for our growth, often opting for satisfaction and scarcity. In my perspective, based on my limited experience and consciousness, it appears manifestation is where desire and aligned behavior meet.

I also think manifestation seldom appears in a physical reality we can taste, touch, and see. The physical grounding and reality is only a representation and symbol of true manifestation. Manifestation happens in your bones. It’s shedding false narratives to walk into your future lighter. It’s releasing control to leave a little room for the great unknown to play out in our favor. It’s establishing ownership over how powerful dedication to your own delight truly is.

Consistency and diligence are important for manifestation because it’s the ultimate embodiment of your deservedness. You’re being clear with yourself, your community, and the universe that you are prepared to hold space for what’s to come. It’s sorta like dressing for the job you want, not the job you have. This is the most practical step in clarity and purity of heart. It took me a long time to realize I was fighting ease by trying to actualize dreams founded in vindication, resentment, scorekeeping, and defensiveness.

Have you ever finally snagged that promotion, raise, apartment, or partner and realized the struggle wasn’t worth it? That who you have to be to maintain your “manifestation” is in friction with your actual happiness? This happens when what we want is clouded by not-enoughness - while we’re multitasking healing and trying to make the dream work at the same time. There’s nothing wrong with that because it’s all part of the lesson.

Manifesting while healing teaches us surrender and detach from outcomes; sometimes the perceived outcome will not provide the safety, love, and joy because we are still learning to define and accept those things. Specificity is important, but in terms of experience. How can you make your manifestations more centered around how you wish to feel as you are rather than who or what you think you need to be to feel that way?

shazdidthis

A post shared by @shazdidthis

If you received everything you’re manifesting right now at once, would you be prepared to hold space for all of it?

Patience is a virtue. Not in a “Jesus take the wheel” way, but in a very practical sense. Nobody wants to hear that divine timing is real because it can easily feel like a surrender to laziness or apathy. Not too long ago, I sat around - pouty, stank attitude, crossed arms - wondering where my manifestation was. Very recently it occurred to me that waiting for manifestation is kind of like waiting for the keys to a private garden. What the hell do you need a garden for if you don’t know how to tend to it? If you don’t understand the cycle of harvest? If you don’t have good soil, proper tools, and a water supply?

The time we spend “waiting” for the things that are meant for us - not what we wish for, but what has our names written on them - is not waiting at all. We are acquiring the proper tools and skill sets to get the job done. We are grounding ourselves in rich soil and stretching strong roots. We are developing the emotional capacity, boundaries and maturity to withstand the trials of having more than you could ever imagine.

And then of course - and sorry in advance to deliver this news - sometimes the time we spend “waiting” for our dreams to come to fruition, we need to spend weeding. To be frank, some motherfuckers gotta go, babe. Some habits of self-sabotage gotta go. Some beliefs gotta go. The vision you have for your life may be on point, but if you don’t have room for it, if you flinch in it’s presence, if you don’t truly believe you’re capable of having it, then the manifestation itself is not your priority right now.

What is meant for you will come when you are the nurturer you have always deserved. When you surrender to the magic of your life. When you let love come to your aid. Your manifestations don’t recognize our concept of time; energy recognizes energy. You don’t get what you want. You realize you are what you want. It’s yours.

Journal Prompts

What are you manifesting right now? Why?

Where do you feel you’ve already planted seeds and are tending to your manifestations?

How can you align yourself with the life you’re manifesting? What daily tasks, activities, or studies would put you in greater alignment?

What are some things you need to clear out of your energy in order to be in greater alignment to your manifestation?