Manifesting a vision is a process with twists & turns & I admit it can be a bit wonky. Here’s a funny personal story of mine to show you what a manifestation mishap looks like.
Back in January I was looking for a job in my field (nonprofits/ research). But deep down I am a creative…and the more powerful vision being revealed to me was I want to wake up each day & sew, just sew!
Trying to ignore that desire I hopped on the internet & browsed a list of fundraising/ development positions like a responsible person. Suddenly some very small print caught my attention at the bottom of the page- a posting for a seamstress job.
On a whim I applied & got a response…from a guy named E.W. I asked him what his initials stood for & he said condescendingly, “Just E.W.” I overlooked this small red flag since the woman who interviewed me said she had been with the company 11 years…seemed a good sign.
She led me to “the floor” where loud machinery buzzed in the background and where men quietly pieced together & methodically counted machine parts while ol’ E.W. hovered near their stations, and where I would soon be sewing. Oh yeah…what exactly would I be sewing?
Horse goggles. Well ok jockey goggles to be exact. Yep I would sew leather straps onto plastic goggles to be sold in the horse racing industry. (This is Kentucky, y’all.) But wait, it gets better. They also serviced a client who placed orders for dog hats. I would also sew small colorful hats that dogs wear in parades.
I took a lighthearted and amused attitude with all this and when they hired me decided to give it my best shot. Never mind the voice in the back of my head whispering sweat shop. Onward into the fun factory I went.
But it was anything but fun. No music was allowed. We were expected to work in complete silence to the grinding background noise of factory equipment. They put me on an industrial machine so old with a pedal so sensitive that I had to crank it manually to sew around each pair of goggles. After one day I had blisters on my hand and felt like I had arthritis in my wrist.
On my second day I noticed taking breaks was very regimented & micromanaged. Everyone lined up and clocked out at the exact same time then hurriedly took their turn at the microwave to scarf down their food in 10 minutes then get back on the floor at the exact 30 minute mark.
On my third day I got scolded for chatting with my 60 year-old coworker who sewed at the machine across from me. God forbid we have a conversation about quilts while we’re working. The boss lady said it was “affecting everyone on the floor” and the guys were distracted- never mind the loud machinery, my voice could be heard over the machines (which is absurd, anyone who knows me knows I have “soft voice”- a term my sister & I coined for our lack of vocal cord bravado…we also share the “weak whistle” trait).
Soon I found out the reason the woman had stayed 11 years was that ol’ E.W was her dad and the floor manager was her husband. I waited 5 minutes after her “no talking” spiel & then quickly grabbed my purse and kindly exited the eery building.
That night I told my friend about the miserable conditions and how I had walked out & she burst out laughing so hard it surprised me. Through broken laughter she wheezed “Horse goggles!!!” “Dog hats!!!” And then it was contagious, then we couldn’t stop. Uncontrollable hysterics & tears spilled out.
The absurdity of it- a sad morbid factory where everyone is quiet & works all day in miserable conditions, slaving away to mass produce such serious things as horse goggles & dog hats.
I truly believe I ignored my intuition on this one and would have been better off to heed the red flag when I met the strange E.W. dude. Also if I’m really honest during the application process I kept calling them & sending them emails so there was some force on my part.
Manifestation makes sense when you follow your intuition, not your forceful ego. Sure we all have ego projections that are enticing to try to “make happen”. But more importantly- what is the source of that?
Does happiness come because your ego-story is getting fed, feeling real and you’re deeply hooked into to it, declaring to the world you “manifested” something? Or does happiness come on it’s own, natural, spontaneous, co-existing with beautiful intuitive experiences you couldn’t have planned, let alone imagined(!?)
Mantra Made 