Making dreams come true: Inside the New Age world of Manifesting

You’re going to have to read the article for yourself and decide. I do lean toward the theory of “toxic positivity” myself so I’m not the best judge. The power of positive thinking, to me, begins and ends with being just positive enough to get off of your ass and do the work. Making anything good happen is going to take a lot of hard work and sacrifice. At the same time, thinking that anything is possible just because you refuse to accept failure seems a set-up for profound disappointment. There are, for everyone who does succeed, quite a few bitter, disillusioned, self=proclaimed visionaries who feel that The Universe has somehow cheated them out of their dreams. They’re not fun to be around. The drugs and alcohol that are so common among this latter group don’t make them any less horrible. Their pain becomes your discomfort. I’ve been around on this planet long enough to have encountered a few of them.

I’ve also been around long enough to tell you firsthand that many of the success stories started out in the more advantaged sectors of society. They are, in other words, less likely to fail because they start out far ahead of where you are. They aren’t exactly self-made in the traditional sense and the power of positive thinking is very much about the power of positive financing. I’m just saying…

I can also say that you’re never going to do anything without trying. You will be destined to unhappiness, or at least general dissatisfaction. There has to be a balance somewhere between the power of positive thinking and realistic expectations. Do the work and give it to The Universe. Don’t take it personally when your ventures go belly up. The system wasn’t made for a lot of us.

Everyone will take away from this “manifesting” movement what they will. It’s not all as woo-woo bullshitty as it can come off . Some is common sense: get off your ass and try something. Some is pop psychology: We often set ourselves up for failure with defeatist thinking and allowing ourselves to remain in blind spots, so… perspective. Some is definitely magical thinking. There are very real obstacles for many of us and it’s fucking insulting to say otherwise. We exist in a grotesque capitalist reality. For some of us to make it, others have to fail. There isn’t room for everyone at the top.

At the root though, again, is the fact that nothing changes if nothing changes. Just common sense.