Here’s part 2. Warning: woo-woo witchy stuff under the cut. Skeptics and loud opinionated atheists, begone from this place!
What I have learned in my years of manifesting and reading about Law of Attraction stuff is this: if you want to bring something into your life, you have to create, and sustain, the feeling of already having that thing. So feel the feeling you want to feel. If you want to experience joy and excitement in 2015 (and who doesn’t?) then find ways to conjure those feelings into your life experience NOW.
Visualize things that give you the feeling you’re seeking. Happy memories. Fantasies of possible future events. Fictional stories from movies, TV or books that match what you’re trying to manifest into your life. Create the feeling however you can.
I find that writing is a really powerful tool for manifesting. Sometimes I write lists of sentences that begin "Wouldn’t it be nice…?" This is a great way to create an easygoing, happy feeling because it’s very non-committal. It’s not saying, “I NEED THIS THING TO BE HAPPY,” it’s saying, “It would be nice if this thing happened, but it won’t be the end of the world if it doesn’t.”
I also like to script out what I want to happen because that helps me connect with the feelings I’m looking for. I might script someone asking me on a date, offering me a job, or inviting me to an event I want to go to. Just make sure you don’t cling to specifics. The universe tends to deliver you some reflection of that initial feeling you put out there, but it doesn’t usually do it in the way you expected - so don’t obsess over particulars. Just find a way to feel the feeling and stay in it for a little while. (Abraham-Hicks says 17 seconds of pure focused positive energy is enough to get the ball rolling…)
If you’re not quite sure what you want to achieve in 2015, and no particular goal is calling out to you, set an intention to come up with a goal. It’ll be in the back of your mind and you might have a sudden, fantastic brainwave in the middle of some unrelated activity. Or you might run into someone who gives you a good idea, or you might stumble across a magazine article that inspires you, or whatever. Last night I was lying in the bath thinking about how I didn’t have any major goals for 2015 and then suddenly a fully-formed goal popped into my head out of the blue. Set an intention to find a good goal, find a way to feel the feeling of ambition and excitement and drive that good goals give you, and you will eventually receive divine inspiration.
Make a vision board (either a physical one or a Pinterest board, which can be private if you like) that reflects how you want to feel in 2015. It can be general, or it can be on a specific topic (e.g. the “Partner Dreamz” vision board I made when I wanted to manifest a beau; it was a collection of images that gave me that crush-y, romantic, flirty feeling I wanted to manifest). Whatever format your vision board is in, ensure that you’ll see it often. If it’s physical, put it in a location you look at a lot. If it’s digital, set it as your homepage or desktop background or phone wallpaper. Remember, when making the board, that it should be about general feelings you want to manifest, not specifics, since the universe delivers the feeling you wanted, not necessarily the specific thing you wanted. A picture of John Krasinski gets me into a flirty, romantic headspace, and that’s good - so long as I don’t start thinking the partner I eventually manifest has to be John Krasinski himself! Know what I mean?
If you want something specific to do on New Year’s Eve to get yourself energetically ready for 2015, I suggest chanting, meditation, and energetic cleansing. Let’s talk about each of those individually…
You can chant anything you want, so long as it has some kind of meaning and positive emotion embedded in it for you. Some people like to say Sanskrit mantras because they feel those phrases have energetic weight; personally I don’t derive any particular feeling from saying words I don’t understand, so I like to chant words and phrases that hold actual meaning for me. Mostly when I chant, I say phrases that indicate the things I want have already manifested: “That was so much fun!” “I love being here!” “I feel so comfortable with you!” “I feel so loved!” “That was the most fun I’ve ever had!” These examples are silly but hopefully you see what I’m sayin’. As above, the whole point is to create the feeling you want to attract, and find ways to stay in that feeling for a while. Sometimes I also like to pretend I’m on the phone with a friend, telling her about [whatever experience I want to manifest] as if it had just happened. This really helps me connect with the feeling of it.
Meditation is supposed to be good for raising your vibration and your point of attraction because it clears your mind, and the absence of thought is better for you than the constant stream of negative thoughts you may otherwise be thinking. I’m not good at meditating in the standard, clear-your-mind sense, so I like to have something to focus on: a word, a feeling, a visualization/image, a candle flame to stare at, a piece of music to listen to, whatever. Focus on your breathing, too. If you have to hold a thought in your mind, make it a happy one.
Energetic cleansing is a super woo-woo idea and I don’t know how I feel about it, but it can be good on a symbolic level if not a literal one. Some people say Epsom salt baths clean your energetic field, and I’ll take any excuse for a bath. I think a fun New Year’s Eve ritual would be to get into a scented Epsom salt bath with a big glass of champagne, put on some calming and happy music, and meditate on my goals and wishes while chilling out in the bath. If you want to also visualize your energy changing (e.g. visualize a pink bubble of love and happiness slowly growing and enveloping you, or visualize white light coming up from the centre of the earth and into your body to cleanse you), so much the better.
A lot of these suggestions have to do with music, and that’s because music is a powerful mood-alterer for me, and for a lot of people, I think. Sometimes I like to make a playlist that creates a certain feeling that I want to manifest. A 2015 playlist, for me, would be a lot of up-tempo, dance-y, sing-along-loudly kind of songs. Maybe yours would be romantic, or kick-ass, or relaxed. Make one and listen to it a lot!
Whether or not you believe in the power of things like crystals, having a talisman or totem can be powerful on a symbolic level. If you’re into crystals, do some research on which ones are most aligned with what you want to achieve or feel in 2015, and get a piece of jewelry or some other object that features that crystal. I have a rose quartz necklace around my neck right now that I’m going to wear a lot more in 2015, because rose quartz is the crystal of love and compassion. Even if you’re not into crystals, you can still get other kinds of talismans: heart-shaped things for love, a ring made from a typewriter key to remind you of your commitment to writing, a tattoo reminding you to choose happiness, etc. Whatever you want to remember year-round, get yourself (or make yourself) an object you can wear or carry at all times as a reminder.
At the end of a year, it’s important to find a way to forgive yourself for your fuck-ups in the year gone by. There are lots of ways to do this. You could write a list of ways you messed up this year and suggest a solution or way to improve next year for each. You could donate money to a charity to heal your conscience if you feel guilty about something you did this year. You could write your failures or mistakes on little pieces of paper and burn them or flush them down the toilet or cut them up into tiny pieces. You could visualize each mistake as an individual black cloud and exhale them out of your body one by one as you meditate. You could visualize each person you wronged, telling you they forgive you. You could meditate on the mantra “It’s okay” or “I’m ready to move on” or “I forgive myself.” However you do it, just DO IT! You can’t move on with your life if you’re still holding onto old guilt.
When the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, maybe take that moment to hold your singular intention or desired feeling in your head and heart. Make that moment count. Start your year as you mean to continue it.
A few years ago, I stayed up all night on New Year’s Eve and watched the first sunrise of the year. That felt hugely symbolic and magical to me, and I’d like to do it again sometime. Maybe you could do that too, and imagine that the sun is God/the Universe/whatever, greeting you. What would you say or do if you knew that were true? How would you greet the first sunrise? Doooo itttt!
Sorry if this was really rambly. It’s almost 3AM…