“A thought is like a single drop that hits the water, making ripples that manifest into infinity.”

-Alexis Brooks

Who says manifesting is only for devoted students of The Secret?

And while I don’t consider myself an opposer of the book and movie that scored millions of followers who found themselves with a renewed sense of manifesting moxie, I’ve admittedly been a tad critical of its somewhat template approach to manifestation.

That said, for whatever it’s worth, The Secret certainly cracked the proverbial door of possibility open for many who never gave one thought to the idea that “You too can create your own reality.”

I for one have always felt on some intuitive level that we are innate creators; masters of the art of expression, and alchemists in the truest sense.

And though there have been times (and still are) where I question my singular ability to fashion and shape my desired reality at any given time, whether it’s for an object, scenario, or state of being, I’ve been fortunate that I will return invariably to the idea that creativity is my core!

And on this day I did just that.

Here’s the story…

It was about mid-May. Two weeks or so prior to my birthday. With the weather getting increasingly pleasant, I found myself sitting in one of my favorite spots in my garden. A place that I’ve since dubbed The Dream Garden – and you’ll find out why in a moment.

I’d been nestled amid a beautiful border of large Hosta, Bamboo, and other Japanese inspired plantings. Sitting on a wooden park bench that my husband and I had just transported from another garden in our yard, I decided to do a bit of silent reflecting. I’d been thinking about a recent show I had done with author and manifesting expert Dianne Bischoff James. I was particularly fascinated by her own brand of creation, calling her style exploratory. She said that she liked to think of her sojourns into manifesting her little experiments, and I liked that approach. She then explained a few techniques that she’d developed with great success.

So here I was, sitting in my little Japanese garden on a beautiful spring afternoon, in complete reflection mode, staring at a tree (a beautifully canopied Japanese maple that my mother and I had planted nearly 40 years ago) when I decided to try my own little “experiment.”

I stared intently at the tree and began to speak to her out loud, as if beckoning to the chairs that I knew existed on some level of reality and were meant to be in our midst . “Tree, wouldn’t you love two beautiful Adirondack chairs under your glorious branches to keep you company?” I said. I then lowered my eyes slowly dipping just below the branches and then onto the ground on which these Adirondacks would eventually sit.

I’ve been wanting authentic Adirondack chairs for several years. Each season, I’d search for that perfect pair of New England favorites: Vintage, well made, the best quality wood ever, heavy and of course, inexpensive! I knew they’d be perfectly at home (as would I in them) in my garden.

As I sat staring, I began to speak out loud, “Vintage…well-patinated…sturdy…beautiful…cheap!” Then I got even more descriptive, shifting from a wish list hoped for in the future to the reality of those chairs already sitting underneath the tree. I became animated, then excited, and continued to speak out loud! Suddenly, I could see them sitting there!

Feeling completely satisfied and convinced something had occurred, I then let it go – completely. In fact as the days went by, it never crossed my mind again until…

Two weeks later. My birthday had arrived. My husband and I were en route to meet friends at our annual town fair to spend some time celebrating my birthday. As we rounded the corner, heading out toward the center of town, my eyes became focused on what looked to be two white Adirondack chairs, perched tenuously on a neighbor’s curbside. “Stop the car,” I shouted! “Let me out. I’ve got to see whether they’re giving these away.” I summoned the neighbor who’d been working in the yard and asked him whether he’d planned on giving the chairs away. “No,” he said. Actually he’d planned on throwing them away as I noticed upon closer examination they were in pretty rough shape. Although he was willing to give them to me, he cautioned that he thought they would need too much work and probably wouldn’t be worth salvaging. In the end, I agreed. They were ready for the rubbish!

As I returned to the car, somewhat disappointed, I recalled my vision, and suddenly my sense of determination had returned. “I’m GOING to find those chairs!”

At the fair, it was hot – people scurrying to get ice cream and cold drinks. I sought shade under one of the vendor’s awnings. Appropriately, I found one – a local farm co-op, with three lovely ladies, very pleasant and eager to talk about their farm and garden club. Engaged, I began speaking to them about the co-op and learning about their non-profit organization. While listening to one of the women discuss some of their initiatives, in which she encouraged me to get involved, something quite strange happened…

I heard a voice in my head say, “Ask them about Adirondack Chairs!”

As soon as the moment presented itself, once she’d paused in the conversation, I then said to the three women standing behind the table, “I don’t know why I’m asking this, but does anyone know where I might find a pair of good vintage Adirondack chairs?” No immediate ideas came to mind, save for the usual – Craigslist and other online portals where used goods might be found. After a moment or two had passed, one of the women who had not particularly been part of our discussion but had been standing there listening casually, paused and said, “Wait a minute I have a pair of Adirondack chairs that my husband and I don’t want. If you’d like, you can have them.” “Have them?” I said. “Sure,” she said. “They may need a little work, but they’re vintage. They’re Teak. They were given to us about fifteen years ago and we just don’t use them. You can have them!

Needless to say, I wasted no time in taking her up on her offer. The following day, at her invitation, I went to her lovely home, and as she guided me to where the chairs were stored, there they were, THE most perfect Adirondack chairs I could have ever imagined. Vintage, Authentic, Teak, Patinated, Beautiful, and Inexpensive …FREE!!

In fact, despite her advice that we may need to sand them a bit, absolutely no work was needed. They were in near pristine condition. AND as a bonus one of them came with a chase attachment AND matching teak table!

AND, all of this happened on my birthday. Talk about a gift from the Universe!

The rest as I’ll say is “manifesting history!”

Not only did I manifest what I saw in my mind’s eye, sitting in the garden that I now affectionately refer to as “The Dream Garden,” I got much more!

How did this happen?

What elements were involved?

And how can we all learn to become better Conscious Manifestors?

I hope you’ll tune in to this segment of Conscious Commentary as I talk about the dynamics that were involved in my little manifestation experiment and how you too can bring your creative vision, literally, to life!

Relevant link (You won’t want to miss this): Why Ignoring Your Intuition Can be THE Best Teacher!