Boston View Farm
Photo credit: Warwick Locke
Kanjani, fellow Master Manifestors in Training…
Due to the resounding success of my blog post of the first step to manifesting mastery, which consisted of a whole three likes on Facebook, I feel I must press forward and share my second step for those three people who are perhaps putting their lives on hold until I release this valuable information. The sense of responsibility weighs heavily upon my shoulders.
For those of you who missed that first blog and are now possibly intrigued, you can find it here!
But onwards and upwards for all you master builders out there… and me (you must remember my blog posts are intrinsically selfish, and for me first and foremost). Now that we’ve cleared the wreckage of the past, forgiven ourselves and others, we realise this is an ongoing process. I don’t think we’re ever done forgiving, and, for me, it’s a daily process, whether I’m forgiving life, myself or the nob that cut me off in traffic or ate my fruit loops. But, at some point, we must do other stuff as well to bring our dreams to fruition.
The Second Step
Step Two of any goal setting process is developing the big picture of how we would like our lives to look, feel and be.
It’s important here to put down broad and loose brushstrokes, to let our imaginations run wild. The details are not the focus – this is where we focus on the enormity of all we want to be, do, have and create in the broadest sense our monkey minds will allow.
It’s about taking the diluted paint and big brushes and putting in the guidelines, the broad strokes, the foundation. It’s about creating the structure that will be a safe and sturdy container to hold the fine nuances and details that are put in later.
I know a wonderful art teacher, Dee Donaldson, who calls this process “activating the canvas”. We use colours we may not use again, we relax the constraints and let the marks and the shades begin the creation process. We, hopefully, don’t judge what appears and we allow it to take on a life of its own.
I love this part of painting because I can let myself be free. It’s the stage where perfectionism truly has no place.
Step Two is a great place to practise letting go of the “hows”. We don’t concern ourselves with how we’ll achieve our desires or get where we want to be, we just imagine being “there” and what it feels like.
I find writing so cathartic in all phases of goal-setting, but even if writing doesn’t do it for you, you can make audio notes describing your dream, your goals. Leave no stone unturned and no detail unmentioned. Use your five senses and describe how you feel, what you can taste, smell, see and hear. Create the big picture, with no limitations. Give it a title, a genre, a theme… create little reminders on your phone or on post-its to remind you of your big vision. You are creating the magnet that will pull you over the daily hurdles and disappointments that can derail our dreams so easily.
In 2015, when I was floundering around, saying no to everything and having no clue as to what I really wanted, my dearest friend and spiritual mentor, Laina, gifted me with a profound opportunity. It came in the form of a horse constellation workshop with Nadja De Vlaeminck, from Bitless And More, and facilitated by Kirsten Neke of Laughing Waters Farm in the Western Cape, just outside of Stanford. I wish I could go into every detail of that experience, but for the purpose of this blog, the point was when, at the end of workshop, Laina asked me if I could concisely voice my dream, in a phrase, a verse, a statement.
As soon as she asked I knew the answer. It was a poem I read by Kate Light, mentioned by Elizabeth Gilbert in her book “Committed”. And it went like this:
“A house in the country to find out what’s true
A few linen shirts, some good art
And you.”
To break it down, I need a home, a sense of true belonging that ties into the land, into Mother Nature. My Taurus sun cries out for an anchoring, a home-coming, it always has. I need to uncover and delve into truth, even and, perhaps especially, if that requires a visit to my dark side, my shadow. My Scorpio Ascendent isn’t afraid of the dark.
I need luxury. But not the bling kind, the real-to-me value kind, which is covered by “a few linen shirts”. I am not the “celebrity” archetype at all. I need real value, genuine beauty and its age, condition and monetary value mean nothing while its value in history, beauty, story and use is everything to me.
“Some good art”… well, go figure. There better be some good art!
“And you” represents to me every being I get to share my life with, from the spider who makes his home in the corner of my bedroom, to my soul partner, Warwick, my friends, my community and my tribe.
This was my broad vision. This was my dream. And as soon as I was able to let go of the details and focus on the big picture, it began to manifest in ways my egoic brain would never have been able to imagine. If you remember anything from this blog, I would wish it to be this – the Universe/Spirit/God/your lunchbox – whatever you want to call the Power that creates galaxies and whom we are one with – has infinitely greater plans for you than you can ever imagine. Source is the ultimate creator, from whom we have much to learn… if you doubt me, just check out a wild flower or the markings on a moth.
This poem was the catalyst that brought me through the dark hours when my dreams seemed ridiculous, impossible, undeserved, childish and naive. I held and rocked my inner child while reciting this poem to her, to remind her that we were OK, we were unfolding perfectly and we deserved so much more than we could ever imagine. Give yourself that gift. Give yourself a North Star that will hold you and guide you. This is the light of Earendil, that was given to Frodo by Galadriel, with her words, “May it be a light to you in dark places when all other lights go out.”
Find your light, your joy, for that is your raison d’être. Simply put, Step Two is about following the joy.
‘Till next time, much love xxx
