My Story

I was a wreck in 1979. I had a wife in graduate school, three small children, my marriage was on the rocks and I had just been fired from a job that I detested. 1980 dawned with my being as deep in to ‘victim mentality’ as one could be.

As I frantically sought a way to keep the family together financially, I explored all kinds of options – including one multi-level marketing ‘opportunity’ that promise health, wealth, eternal happiness – and lots of soap…

Well, I didn’t get rich and I had a lot of cleaning products in my garage for several years thereafter – not quite the success I had envisioned. But the experience did start me on a path that ultimately turned my life around. The friend who introduced me to the business hosted weekly meetings at this home. He wasn’t a poor man talking success. He was a wealthy & successful entrepreneur, and thus very believable. The weekly meetings were basically pep talks that included a lot of teachings about attitudes and beliefs, as well as some important manifestation techniques.

I’m a slow learner so it took a while, but there was a turn around. My marriage did survive and being booted out of my job was the best thing that could have ever happened. It launched me into a life of self-responsibility and social entrepreneurship that has allowed me to express my creative energies in the world, help others, and truly enjoy the adventure of life.

But lets back up…

The very first manifestation technique I learned, back in 1980, was to put up pictures of whatever I wanted in places where I would see them all the time. I learned later that this is what we now call a vision board or a treasure map. I did this and was utterly amazed over the years to see how many of those early intentions materialized, often with no effort on my part other than putting up the pictures.

The second thing I learned about manifestation was to “fake it ‘til you make it” – that it is important to act as if your desires or intentions have already been fulfilled and you have become the person or have the things you have dreamed of. That was a hard one for me. I was just too honest. On the other hand, I have an alter ego hidden deep inside that is a frustrated actor wanting to come out. So I knew that I could ‘play act’ as long as I didn’t deceive. It started out simply. When anyone ask me “how are you doing,” my response was “Great!” Now in the beginning I certainly didn’t feel great. In fact I was very miserable at that point in my life. I felt like a little kid trying to walk in his dad’s shoes. But over time, I changed and grew and within a few months I was actually feeling great as a result of constantly saying it. It took a while for my consciousness and self image to catch up with my words and I often felt like a hypocrite during those early days.

Along with the techniques I was learning the importance of self-responsibility and how I had so completely disempowered myself in the past with my victim mentality and blaming others in my life for various situations and circumstances. I began to notice that, as my attitude changed, my life changed.

But like I said, I’m a slow learner. I didn’t do a lot with any of this then for several years. The pictures that I had put up on the side of my refrigerator all materialized over the years, usually without overt effort and often magically, but I didn’t work with any systematic vision or goals. I just floated along like most other people, taking things as they come.

Then, in the spring of 1995 I found a piece of land that I really, really wanted – a place to build the little cabin in the forest that I had always dreamed of. This prompted me to reemploy some manifestation techniques I had learned 15 years earlier. The first thing I did was create a vision board with photos of the land. The second thing I did was have a small stone from the creek adjacent to the land wire wrapped and wore as a necklace, next to my heart. The third thing was to write a ‘manifestation letter’ in the spring of 1995.

The idea is to write a letter to an old friend who you haven't seen in years and bring them up to date on your life. You begin the letter at some point in the past and continue on through the present and into the future as if everything has already occurred. So I wrote this letter to my friend and described to her in detail my purchasing the land and gave her a verbal tour through my cabin, explaining everything in detail.

Honestly at the time it felt like a complete fantasy. The land wasn’t for sale, I didn’t have any money for a down payment and nothing more than the modest rent I was paying for a monthly mortgage. Six months later, in October 1995, through a series of unpredictable occurrences, I had the land and a house. OK, it wasn’t the piece of land I had initially wanted. It was an adjacent piece that, in many ways was better. I had no way to predict originally how it would all materialize from a 3D perspective. I simply created my vision board, wrote my letter and held the intention.

That was 15 years ago. I’ve learned a lot more since then that has helped me refine this process. The first thing is the importance of Intentions. Everything begins with intention and I’ve come to realize from personal experience that unfulfilled dreams are often the result of unclear, unfocused or conflicting intentions. Until we are crystal clear as to what we want and have removed any blocks to it’s flow, the Universe cannot provide.

The second thing I have learned is the importance of Gratitude. First and foremost is to have gratitude for what we have; being grateful for the pleasant things that make our lives better and gratitude for the unpleasant things which help us learn and grow. And then there is gratitude for the things we are in the process of manifesting as if they were already here.

So now I have embarked on a new creative phase of life. I’m no longer in the ‘pursuit of happiness’ through the realization of dreams, because I know that my happiness doesn’t depend on outer circumstances or what other people do or don’t do. Happiness is an inside job. At this point in my life I do have a lot of creative dreams but I’m more like a child at the sea shore – building with the wet sand for the pure joy of creating – knowing that in the great cosmic scheme of things, it’s not really terribly important and even when and where I successfully materialize a dream, the next tide will soon wash it away. So, while I give my heart and soul to the creative process, I stay lightly attached to the outcome.

Michael