My therapist told me I’m like a butterfly. I started as a caterpillar, recently went into hibernation, and I thought I had emerged from my cocoon to gain my wings. Unfortunately, this past weekend’s events are telling me that it was too soon. Regardless, I recently took a look at how far I have come. My progress is partially thanks to the power of manifestation.
To preface, I believe all of what’s come into my life is from my doing. This is the whole reason I am not religious, I do not believe my fate to be in the hands of anyone else. I think at any point in time, I can change my life’s course and do whatever I want (my friends call this an “uno-reverse”). I am contradictory because I also believe some things happen for a reason, but this is a discussion for another time. However, I do believe in the power of setting intentions and goals. Insert manifestation!
At some point around a year ago, I hit a major block of frustration. This is my recurring issue where I become irritated with feeling “stuck” in life. I like to feel that I’m constantly moving forward, gaining experiences, and growing. So, when certain lessons repeat themselves, I get stir-crazy (yes, I have heard the same lesson continues to present itself until you learn it, trust me). The first thing I did to gain some sense of control was make a manifestation board.
I made it on Canva and put pictures of things I wanted to manifest in my life. Experiences, people, places, certain feelings. Some were small goals, like going to Cabo for spring break and having a memorable twenty-first. Others are larger life and career goals. Who knows, maybe one day I will end up on SNL ;). It was honestly peaceful for me because I am a very visual person. I have run three social media accounts with the focus of creating brand identities, so I regularly scroll Pinterest and make mood boards for inspiration. Manifesting was like second nature to me.
When I look back on the boards, usually after a quarter at school, it is wild to see what I’ve accomplished. I did go to Cabo, I was really intentional about some specific people, and I kept promises to myself, like working out. The best is uncovering what I did by accident. For example, for my birthday, I had four to five pictures I was manifesting. I ended up getting the exact same pink, cowboy-hat, shooter toppers for my friend’s twenty-first, without noticing they were from my board. I included a picture of passports for my intention to go to Cabo. I ended up additionally traveling to Chicago, Texas, and Nashville. A picture of a girl golfing that I one-hundred percent forgot about? I just golfed for the first time a year later. I know I’m being redundant, but I also had a photo of a newspaper article because I liked the title, “Be the CEO of Your Own Life”. I now write articles bi-weekly for Her Campus.
I learned from creating manifestation boards that they don’t always work out. I have put career goals on my board I thought I wanted or had a slight interest in, to realize I couldn’t be farther off-target. I would spend a few weeks with my new idea in the back of my mind, to come to an awakening that I do not want to be x, y, or z. I still don’t know what I want to do (never have), but I gained more direction. It’s cool how it all unfolds.
Sometimes, it all has to do with timing. One of my manifestation boards has multiple photos of Europe because I wanted to study abroad this past summer. I wasn’t able to go and thought Barcelona was out of the picture. Low and behold, this coming summer I am graduating and going to Europe on a one-way ticket with all of my best friends. Now I understand the saying “trust the process”.
I may be delusional, but I’m seeing a pattern. My Dad believes I’ve fallen victim to my mom’s yogi-chakra-astrological ways. Nonetheless, I like getting intentional about what I want in life and surprising myself along the way. We are really capable of what we set our minds to.