I want to share with you my personal and at times conflicted relationship with activism and law of attraction. Maybe you have never heard of deliberate creation, maybe law of attraction is the reason you read my blog. I put together a very basic introduction to let you understand how this has shaped my activism and coaching.
Law of Attraction
Law of Attraction or LOA for short is a concept to describe that like attracts like - or what you focus upon grows. When we turn to quantum physics, we learn that we are all made up of energy, the things we see, feel, touch around us, down to the smallest part the atoms are energy and they are in constant vibrational movement. The thoughts and feelings that you have are also made up of energy. These energies have a certain vibration and they attract vibrations that are similar to them. Simply put - when you worry about something, you will attract more reasons to worry; or when you are excited about something, you will attract thoughts and experiences that bring you more excitement.
Deliberate Creation
Most people live their life in reaction to what they observe and experience. For example when they experience something nice, such as an interesting conversation with a friend, they have inspiring thoughts and feel good, or when they get cut off in traffic they get frustrated or mad.The thing is, no matter what you experience or observe - you have the power to choose how you think and feel about it. And given the law of attraction, by deliberately choosing your thoughts and feelings you actually influence what you experience in life. So instead of living their life in reaction to what they experience, deliberate creators take part in actively creating their experience.
Activism and Law of Attraction
I was raised with the concepts of deliberate creation (was anyone else here raised by a healer mom?). Yet in my 20’s it took me several years to actually embrace law of attraction as an empowering tool. I lived back and forth in the Bay Area of California and Berlin, Germany. As an activist, a migrant, a queer person I was highly aware of injustices in our societies. I lived in communal houses that were formerly squatted, and still frequently targeted by the police. I held friends hands after they have were sexually assaulted, our community has kept people safe from deportations and we have confronted perpetrators of rape. It was important for me to understand social structures, powers and addressing what’s wrong in society. During that time I really struggled with the ideas of deliberate creation, because I thought it blamed people for experiencing violence - as if they drew it upon themselves. When someone told me to focus on the good sides of life, I despised them for being so ignorant to reality and not being an ally to people who were surviving the daily struggles of racism, homophobia, transphobia and sexism. At the same time the idea of deliberate creation offered a great sense of self determination and empowerment for me, because it meant me and my friends weren’t doomed to only experience violence. While still rejecting resources about law of attraction, activism itself has led me to deeply understand some core ideas from law of attraction, such as focus and gratitude.Meeting people who were locked up in prisons, some for a few weeks some for over 20 years, has deeply impacted me. I was privileged to visit activists in prisons who were fighting for their basic human rights. Experiencing people's strong spirits has taught me a lot about focus. I stopped being paralyzed by the violence people experienced and focused on the powerful minds and spirits, the radical visions and empowering movements for social change such as Critical Resistance and generation five. I learned that while being faced with violence and discrimination the only sustainable option was to focus upon our visions and each person's individual strengths and agency. At this point I was already working as a domestic violence counsellor, so in order to be of good support for people, being able to see their best version of themselves and envisioning them safe and healed, even before they even believe that’s possible was essential.It was after a meeting from Free Battered Women where I felt immense gratitude for sharing the space with a woman who has spent over 20 years in prison for killing her abusive husband in self defense. I was so touched by meeting her, and hearing her stories of readjusting to society since she was released. I was so grateful, and felt the power of this feeling, that I decided to dedicate a section of my journal to gratitude. From then on I started writing down all kinds of things that I was grateful for. I later learned that this is a classic law of attraction exercise. Once I was ready to immerse myself in deliberate creation I felt the immense power of self determination it offered me. I let go of the idea that it blames people for their experiences - cause really, nobody who knows what they are talking about does. Deliberate creation changed my life. While I used to be frequently harassed on the streets, the harassment stopped and I felt safe being out at night. While my relationships used to be full of heaviness and dealing with trauma, I then met the amazing person I am now married to. Against all odds, I got my dream job as a counsellor and organizer, I got a great apartment. Yet I still didn’t speak to anyone but my partner about this law of attraction stuff. I was scared nobody would understand. And I wasn’t ready yet to actually explain my understanding of it to others.Yet after my first child was born I felt a strong calling to “come out” as a deliberate creator. That is why I became a coach. While I had been applying the principles of law of attraction in my counseling sessions, it was all indirectly. I was ready to start my own coaching practice and openly coach people on the law of attraction and how that is a powerful tool for self-determination and empowerment, especially for people who have experienced violence and discrimination. So that is what I do now, and why I am telling you my story. It can take some time to embrace the idea, that – no matter what you have experienced or are faced with on a daily basis – you have the power to feel good, let go, enjoy your life and evolve in unforeseen ways. In my coaching practice I passionately empower others to find their own easy path to a self determined life, whether we explicitly talk about law of attraction or not.
Resources
People frequently ask me for resources on law of attraction. And that is a tough one for me, because the resources I use are not that appealing to most “newcomers”. One great resource is the Blog of my mentor Jeannette Maw Good Vibe Blog, I can also highly recommend the Good Vibe University, if you get hooked to know more about Law of Attraction and want to meet like minded people. I personally love everything by Esther Hicks / Abraham, but that involves Esther acting as a medium, who channels higher energies (Abraham) and that’s something that some people are clearly put off by. But if you are interested in that kind of brilliance, simply search for Esther Abraham Hicks on Youtube. … and of course check out my free resources, particularly the little awesome workbook.
Write Me
I would really love to hear from you, and I promise to personally read and answer each and one of your emails on this topic. Are you a deliberate creator? Have you just heard about the Law of Attraction for the first time? Have you met activists who are very put off by law of attraction? What are your questions around deliberate creation?Things that are happening in the world and to the people I love (whether I know them personally or not) still get me down. I continue to be an activist for social justice. Yet I no longer fight from a place of hate, but from a place of love. I am amazed on a daily basis by the power of focus and setting intentions. And I continue to be inspired by the people I get to work with and their powerful and loving presences in this world.
