The space in between, the art of manifestation, + creating core memories

“Enjoy the space between where you are and where you are going”.

It’s easy to focus on what’s next. It’s fun to daydream about how you’ll feel next week, next month, five years from now- when you have everything you want, when all your goals have been met and surpassed, when everything has been figured out.

Whether you have a multi-step plan on how you’re going to get there, you embrace the “leave it up to the universe” mindset, or you’re somewhere in between, we all are human. We are wired to seek out safety, comfort, and inner peace. Most of all, we want to feel we have a purpose in this great big world.

We set our own standards for how these feelings are experienced. Comfort to some might mean familiarity in a routine, purpose might mean contributing to a project at work. For others, comfort means exploring and trying something new every week, purpose means meditating everyday so they can show up in the best way possible for the people in their lives.

These feelings are what we naturally seek in each moment, but usually on a subconscious level. How can we make sure we’re fully acknowledging them, or acknowledge they’re not there and we have some changes to make?

How can we understand ourselves a bit better, and make those changes now if we need to? Why is it easier to create checklists and plans that’ll get us somewhere in five years than to understand how to feel better in this very moment?

“Once I have this new job, I’ll be content and everything else in my life will fall into place. Once I find my soulmate, I’ll be able to truly live with happiness and feel loved. Once I move away from this town, opportunities will effortlessly present themselves to me.” All of that could be true! It also could be false. Realistically, it’ll be a mix of both.

Manifesting and believing in yourself is one thing. Waiting and wishing is another.

The true technique of manifesting is rooted in the present-self.

Contrary to popular belief, manifesting has all to do with who you’re showing up as in your daily life, and not creating this version of yourself that only exists in the future. It’s about embodying the outlook on life, the personality, and the habits that the desired future self will possess, now.

It’s not easy. Writing “I will get my dream job” ten times on a piece of paper isn’t where it ends. It begins there, with that realization you’d like a change. Then the hard part starts, where you have to walk into your current job every morning fully convinced you’re walking into your dream one. You have to speak to your least favorite co-worker how you’d speak to the CEO of your dream company.

This will be difficult not only on your mind, but your physical body. While you’re attempting to change your mindset, your body may not follow as easily. When something happens that would usually trigger an emotional reaction and your mind doesn’t react, your body might be like “wait, why are we acting like everything is okay?”.

Ignored mental distress can literally get stuck in the body. It might present itself as headaches, stomach pain, or trouble sleeping. You may be thinking “at what cost do I keep convincing myself things are great when they’re not?”.

When you feel an old-wired emotional response coming on, document it. “This just happened, usually it would make me feel this way, but I’m choosing not to let it have control over me, because this is where I want to go”.

That way you’re reminding yourself of three things:

1. The fact something happened and it potentially has the power to alter your current state
2. That you’re aware there’s a difference between your old patterns and what you’re actively trying to curate
3. Why you’re doing this hard work- the ideal experience you’re manifesting

This could take 10 seconds, or it could take 20 minutes. Whatever capacity you have available for this exercise, it will be beneficial. This is where I’ll say again- manifestation is not easy work. There will be times you want to sink back into your old mindset because it’s easy and your emotions are just too overwhelming. I’m not asking you to ignore, mask, or push aside your emotions. I’m asking you to get through them differently than usual. The only way out is through.

I am the type of person who ________. I am the type of person who feels ________. I am the type of person who confronts tough emotions and situations by  ________.

Embody your ideal self, then fill in those blanks. Keep those answers close by. Reference them when you need a reminder that where you are now, the between, directly impacts where you’ll be in the future.

The between. The only place your breath exists, the only place your nose, eyes, and ears work. The only place you can reach out and touch what’s in front of you. The in between is the only place we can utilize our gift of the five senses.

What a gift it is to feel the sun on your skin, to walk into the house and smell freshly baked cookies, to shuffle your playlist and hear your favorite song come on first.

The in between is the most important place to be.

If you find yourself in other places more often than the present moment, odds are you’re not going to be happy, or as happy as you could be. Being in the future, or even the past, usually comes with the feeling of worry. “I shouldn’t have said that”, “I wonder what will happen”, “how will things play out?”.

A healthy curiosity is always good, but the line between that and needing control or answers is a very fine one. It’s easy to spiral from an exciting, inspiring thought of the future to listing out the “what if’s”.

Go back to where your feet are. Remind yourself you’re depriving yourself of life’s greatest gift, the gift that will never stop giving as long as you’re there to receive it- the present moment.

When it gets difficult to do this, send your roots even deeper, let them soak up all the fresh rain and nutrients in the soil. Step out of your hyper-analytical mind and just feel everything your senses are providing your body with.

When you have a fond memory of something, one where when you think about it you feel like you’re right back in that moment- it’s usually because your entire being was fully, completely ****in that moment. You can vividly remember how things felt, how you responded to those feelings, you recall who you were surrounded by, what your environment was. All the little details that seemingly don’t matter to someone you’re telling the story to are actually the most important ones.

You want to make your future self happy? Create more of these core memories. Give yourself these soul fulfilling experiences to relive and stories to tell in their wholeness. Especially when you’re struggling with thinking in the past or future, hold it to yourself to make every moment a fond memory, no matter how big or small. I promise you will thank yourself.

To wrap this up, I hope you have a few things floating around in your brain. I hope you know you are exactly where you need to be right now. I hope you know your current circumstances aren’t the only thing defining who you are at your core. I hope you know there is always room for change. That you have the power to make that change, and it might not feel as groundbreaking as you want it to at first.

Keep going, be in the present moment. Meet yourself where you are. When you’re there, you know exactly what you need.

with love, sm