Awesome Amanda’s Burning Question: “My main difficulty in understanding that LOA really works is masturbation! Let me explain: when we have sexual fantasies and engage in self-pleasure, we are visualizing something, we are in the present moment with it, and we are intensely feeling its existence both physically and emotionally. In other words, we are holding the vibration for an extended period of time as if our fantasy is really happening. Many entertain the same fantasies regularly for years at a time. So, if the LOA really works, wouldn’t there be three hot men rubbing me down with oil right now? All joking aside, if the LOA principles were true, wouldn’t our sexual fantasies be (accidentally) manifesting left and right as living proof?”

Dear Awesome Amanda,

First of all, let’s all give a big collective sigh of gratitude that not all of our thoughts just accidentally manifest all over the place, sexual or otherwise. If fantasies of any kind simply came into the physical, there would be whole lot more sexy vampires running around, sure, but I’m certain that we’d also be inundated with people’s heads just spontaneously exploding in traffic. That sounds like a lot of nasty clean-up work to me. But, if we use visualization as a tool to help us manifest what we want, then why don’t the images we so often focus on, good or bad, simply show up? What gives?

Visualizing is NOT manifesting

Let’s start by taking a look at what the images in our heads actually represent. Visualization is simply a way for our minds to translate non-physical energy into something we can comprehend. It’s a way for us to “see” energy. When we allow our minds to simply drift on a subject, our visualizations will show us where our current vibration is at. This is what happens when you’re fantasizing about your dream dude and he suddenly turns into a bit of a douche. The images in your head just showed you that you have some resistance – a belief that is currently interfering with your manifestation of Mr. Perfect. When we actively engage with our visualizations and shape them into something that feels better, we are actually manipulating energy. By changing the “vision”, we are changing our own frequency (providing the new picture is still in line with what we can believe.)

Visualizing is NOT the same as the act of manifesting, however. It’s a tool which we can use to help us manifest what we want, but the images in our heads don’t just come into the physical. It’s a wee bit more complicated than that.

What determines the shape of our manifestations?

Because our fantasies are simply representations of energy, what’s important isn’t WHAT we’re seeing, but what it stands for. Now, of course it does happen that things come into our reality exactly as we imagined them, so let me give you deeper explanation using an example:

Let’s say that you want to manifest something small and meaningless, as a way to prove to yourself that LOA really works. So, you imagine a butterfly. To you, the butterfly represents a stronger belief in your own power to create your reality. You imagine it and let it go.

If you’re actually open to increasing your belief in your own power, then you’ll receive a manifestation that will match this intention. It might be an actual butterfly. Or, it might be an image of a butterfly. Or the word “Butterfly” printed on the sign of a van. Now, your manifestation will probably involve a butterfly to some extent, since anything else, a Ladybug, for example, wouldn’t be recognizable to you as a representation of your ability to manifest. Whatever actually shows up will be a match to the degree to which you were able to allow this new, stronger level of belief (a butterfly sticker might represent a slightly “weaker” alignment than the actual insect). But that’s not all.

The manifestation you receive will also be shaped by the following:

• It will be perfectly designed to represent YOUR vibration within YOUR belief system. In other words, it will be meaningful to you, but not necessarily to anyone else. Many people fail to recognize awesome manifestations because they’re waiting for validation and agreement from others.
• It will come to you via the path of least resistance, meaning – in the way that your own belief system will most easily allow. If you live in the middle of a city and an actual tropical butterfly showing up in your house would shock you, you might get your manifestation in a different way, say, a butterfly on TV.
• It will represent whatever best matches your vibration. If you are aligned with what you want, your manifestation will generally be much better than what you could visualize. Our brains aren’t equipped to come up with the BEST representation possible, just something that feels like it. A place holder, if you will.
• It will come in whatever shape or form serves you best.

It’s for your own good

What exactly do I mean by “serves you best”? That sounds a bit ominous, doesn’t it? Like when your parents punished you “for your own good.” That’s not what I mean, at all, though.

Most people think that manifestations are either a form of reward (you’re in alignment with Who You Really Are! Here’s your big ass bank account!), or punishment (you have negative beliefs! Let us rub your nose in them!) They’re actually neither. Manifestations are always, ALWAYS there to help guide you towards your joy.

A “positive” manifestation will be perfectly designed to help move you even further into alignment. For example, you might manifest a particularly rare butterfly, one that would have no reason to be where you are (like a South American Butterfly in Canada). This could then cause you to recognize the incredible orchestration as being representative of just how powerful and supported you are, strengthening your belief even further.

A “negative” manifestation will be perfectly designed to be a catalyst for growth. It will represent your resistance (how your limiting belief feels) in such a way as to evoke that feeling in you precisely. This resistance may or may not be obviously related to what you’re trying to manifest (everything is connected, so there is always a relation, but it’s not always going to be obvious).

So, let’s say you’d like to believe that you can manifest, but you really don’t. You feel totally powerless. In that case, you might visualize a butterfly, but desperately need it to show up in exactly the way you’re envisioning it, or you’ll dismiss it as “coincidence”. In this case, you’d receive a manifestation that was close enough to a butterfly to get your attention, but different enough to bring out your disappointment. Your manifestation would “prove” to you that you can’t manifest (“See? I never get what I want!”), which is actually the active belief in this scenario. You could then recognize this negative emotion as a messenger, acknowledge what the feeling of disappointment showed you, and open yourself up to the possibility that you are, actually, more powerful than you may have thought. Being willing to recognize the “off” butterfly as a manifestation, after all, would be a good start.

In either case, you manifested precisely what would not only represent your current vibration, but what would be most likely to move you forward in your endeavor to become fully aligned.

Manifestations don’t match your visualization

So, you see, manifestations often don’t match your visualization. They will match your active vibration, instead. You can visualize that new car all you want, but if you’re not a match to what that car represents, you won’t get it. You’ll get whatever does match the vibration you’re currently at. On the other hand, when you become aligned with the frequency that the new car represents, you’ll manifest ALL the stuff that matches that vibration.

You see, your imagination isn’t designed to come up with the BEST POSSIBLE representation of the frequency you’re reaching for, just A representation. This is a type of place holder if you will. And what your mind can conceive of as the ultimate manifestation is often just the Universe’s basic model. It has a whole lot more bells and whistles up its sleeve. This is why it’s a good idea to affirm “This or something better” when focusing on your desires.

When you see something that makes your heart skip, like a car for example, you’re not inspired to want that car, you’re inspired to want to match that frequency, which comes with all kinds of awesome goodies. That car just evokes the feeling of that frequency from you. Focus on it as a way to get into the feeling state – which is the actual goal anyway, and get ready to receive manifestations as consequence. Let me repeat that to make it really clear: The stuff is not the goal. It’s a consequence of achieving the goal.

Why you’re not surrounded by oily men

Ok, so now that I’ve explained the whole concept, let’s apply this knowledge to your question about masturbation: Why aren’t we surrounded by oily men or naked circus acts or sexy vampires? After all, they’re clearly awesome representations of frequencies we are only too happy to line up with. Or are they? When you have a sexual fantasy that totally turns you on, what exactly are you lining up with? Desire, feeling sexy, feeling worthy, relaxing/letting go, getting into a state of NOW, and self-care/love are just a few possibilities (note: all very awesome possibilities. Masturbation is a fantastic tool with many beneficial uses. I’ll explore this in a separate blog post, though). In that moment, the gorgeous guy you’re thinking about may not actually represent your dream relationship. He may simply be a means to an end, a way to be kind to yourself, a way to get rid of stress.

Another example of this kind of visualizing is if you have an angry fantasy, where you see yourself flinging people out a window. Will that actually happen? No. The visualization served to help you release anger, let off steam and move into a more empowered state. You are lining up with a frequency (a more empowered one, in this example), but it’s not really represented by violence. The actual manifestations that come after such an anger release would represent greater empowerment – an opportunity for you to stand up for yourself, for example, or simply a feeling of strength and confidence.

Bottom line

Manifestation, when you really break it down, is a fairly complex issue. Each manifestation has to be perfectly matched to the exact vibration that’s being offered, fit within the belief system of the individual, help them move forward towards what they want, be significant to that person, and fit within the parameters of what they want (as much as that individual will allow). Thank goodness we aren’t in charge of that orchestration! Do you now see why it’s so frustrating when you try to make stuff happen? The Universe has got this. And this is also why it’s impossible to judge someone else’s manifestation – you can’t possibly know all the variables that went into attracting it. And you don’t have to. You don’t even have to understand all of this in order to Deliberately Receive the reality you want. All you have to do is to focus on whatever representation you’ve found that helps you to reach the feeling state you want (or just feel good), and then allow yourself to be led to it. By the hand. Up the stairs. Cue the porno music…