Magazine Manifesting Magic

Dreams turned into reality via inspiring imagery and binders of bliss.

If you've ever seen the 2006 "Last Holiday" film in-depth, you can probably tell exactly where I'm going with this.

In the film, Queen Latifah plays a shy and talented cookwares saleswoman named "Georgia Byrd" who finds out that she only has three weeks left to live after hitting her head at work and getting a faulty diagnosis. Right before quitting her job, there is a scene where Miss Byrd is at home sobbing and drinking away her regrets with an entire bottle of wine while flipping through her infamous "Book of Possibilities." Her dialogue while perusing her book included things such as "I should have eaten that," and "Now I'll never get to meet you!"

This book contained famous chefs she wanted to meet such as Emeril Lagasse, advertisements for chic hotels like Grandhotel Pupp, a steamy marriage with her dream man (expertly played by LL Cool J), and delicious meals that she prepared for others but never dared to try for herself. Before her diagnosis, she was always very reserved and polite, frequently overextending herself, tolerated being walked all over by others, and never felt deserving of living the life she wanted. Instead of living her dreams, she simply cataloged her desires into a single book.

Queen Latifah’s fictional character “Georgia Byrd” is embraced by “Chef Didier,” a culinary artist she always admired.

With a brand new lease and determination to live what was left of her life to the fullest, she summons all of her gumption, withdraws all of her savings from the bank, and books the trip of her dreams which changes her life forever. The movie overall conveys a phenomenal message of just going for it and living the life that you want because our time on this earth can be relatively short in retrospect. I was only 11 when that film came out, but somehow that story and most importantly the "Book of Possibilities" always stuck with me.

As I got older and was enlightened more and more with the concept of manifestation, I realized that I could do the same thing...only I didn't need to hit my head and be given a faulty death sentence from a blurred CAT scan to do it. I realized that I could use that same concept and apply it to my own life to create the life of my dreams. I didn't know the correct term for this at the time until I watched the documentary "The Secret" on Netflix. It talks about the law of attraction, which is an age-old philosophy that experts in nearly every field have used to turn their desires into reality. The film explained that one of the best techniques to do exactly that is to use the power of visualization to create the feeling of having whatever I wanted now.

If you can imagine about three hundred thousand light bulbs lighting up (think of a college football stadium) in my head, that is what it was like when I realized the power of visualization. So after that, I began identifying how I could apply this in my own life. I did think back to Georgia Byrd's "Book of Possibilities" and then proceeded to make some of my own. I figured it out. I discovered a tool to use to satisfy creativity and literally "create my happiness." It wasn't as though I compiled every single magazine or book that I owned, flipped through them, and cut out the images that inspired me in one single sitting. Rather, I let the inspiration flow to me quite naturally and one by one, I began creating what I now call my "binders of bliss."

A few cut-out images of style, happiness, cozy interiors, and uplifting messages to keep the spirit rejuvenated and motivated for what is possible.

Step one was to gather and find a few images that inspired me and ideals that speak to what I may be going through at the moment. Step two was to cut out those images and copy and paste them onto sheets of paper. I used sheet protectors from my local Roses or Wal-Mart to compile into a binder. I slid the completed images together and organized and grouped them into similar categories. After that, I cut out a few images for the front and back sleeves to help me identify the specific binder that it is. Et, VOILA!

This is such a powerful tool that I've worked on especially throughout the pandemic to keep myself busy and motivated that trouble will not last always as long as I believe in the beauty of my desires. The main power of it all is the fact that I am using my creative joy to visualize my desires and showing myself the evidence that the dream life that I want to one day create is possible. Since someone else has done it, it is easy for me to align myself with my power to achieve this. In addition to creating the blissful binders that are filled with future manifestations, I'll create gratitude binders that are taken from the "future" binders to the "gratitude" binders. This is another powerful mechanism to show me that since I've done all of these things before, I can do it again with the new things.

My personal “Gratitude Binder” is filled to the brim with already completed tasks, as well as prior images that are now current. i.e. Flowers on the Table.

It is the magic of appreciation, visualization, and expectation that have allowed me to make my wildest dreams come true. Attending fashion shows in New York, flying to London and Paris, as well as manifesting frivolous things like a pair of Apple headphones or a VOGUE coloring book. All of these things have been made possible by my "happiness" project. It is a surefire way to stay occupied while using the power of creativity and visualization to literally "create your happiness."

I challenge anyone reading this to see what materials you can find from magazines, books, online articles, and anything whatsoever - cut them out and compile them into a collage (doesn't have to be a binder). As long as you have something to look at every day, you can see it, and then thoughts will immediately start rushing in regarding how exactly you can acquire it. It is an incredible tool to show your current self the evidence of your smallest to your wildest dreams coming true. Another great movie that showcases this is the 2008 film "Jumper" with Hayden Christensen. In this fictional world, Hayden's character only has to look at a picture of where he's already been and then proceeds to jump into that location. It's the same principle. Seeing is Believing, my friends! So cut it out, put it out, and "see" it until you see it. Speaking of, I highly recommend the book by Wayne Dyer of a similar title “You’ll See It When You Believe It.”