Dreams and Dermatology

How Lotion Taught Me To Manifest Bigger

“Your dreams are too cheap. I’m a little concerned that you didn’t dream big enough.” 

At that moment, my sister Sammie was peering at me from my laptop as we recorded another episode of our podcast, Build A Wealthy Spirit, together. That week we were experimenting with Tim Ferriss’ Dreamlining exercise from The 4-Hour Workweek. 

We both used his framework to create our dream lives. Sammie was right to be concerned about mine. I had focused a good chunk of my Dreamline on one thing. 

“Skincare products. I miss spending $40 on lotion, it’s the dumbest thing in the world, I thought it was dumb when I was doing it…If I had $100 million, I would buy every single skincare product that I could possibly want.”

Looking at myself on my half of the video call, I could see the pimples that kept popping up on my face. Sammie and I had moved to the desert a few months earlier and my old lotions and cleansers were not a match for the dry air. 

Bad skin was an easy visible problem for me to tackle. Dreaming bigger than that felt uncomfortable. I was never good at being vulnerable and even when thinking about my dream life, I struggled to even admit there was anything else I wanted. 

Our Dreamlining episode was still on my mind when a few weeks later, I was on the phone with my cousin Julie, listening to her try to convince me to get into manifestations. 

“I happened to wake up at the crack of dawn, so I went up to the roof of my apartment to watch the sunrise and journal. I wrote down how I wanted to make friends in New York City. While I was journaling, I felt a wet nose touch my hand and saw a happy little Goldendoodle by my side. I looked up and saw a beautiful woman apologizing for her dog. We ended up chatting up there for two hours!” 

Julie’s eyes sparkled as she recounted the story. I could see how the magic of the situation, the serendipity of writing down her wish and seeing it come to life immediately, had affected her. 

“That’s amazing. I want to be into manifestation, but for some reason I can’t get into. I like to think I’m open minded, but for some reason it’s hard for me,” I confessed. 

Julie’s own experience was too fresh for her to let me off the hook.

“Why not try it? I was reading up on the physics behind it and…”

I couldn’t tell you what she said after that because I never took physics and immediately zoned out when she delved into the science. Something about electrons and energy fields.

While she educated my zoned out self, I reflected on how lit up she looked when she spoke about her experience that morning. It was a stark difference to the feeling of uncertainty and anxiety she had had when she originally moved to New York City a few months earlier. The way she was radiating, I wondered if she was become a super attractor right before my eyes.

She was right, I didn’t see any harm in asking the universe for something. Of course, the thing that came to mind was lotion once again.  

So I looked up ways to manifest and found some things that resonated with me. 

I started with visualization. As I lay in bed at night, I envisioned opening my medicine cabinet to reveal a treasure trove of creams and cleansers. I pictured each pimple disappearing while the scars faded. 

Gratitude was next. I’d whisper, “I am so happy and thankful for clear skin and the perfect lotion to quench my parched face.” 

A key part of manifestation is to then let go of the wish and trust that the universe was taking care of it. The first time I “let go”, I had to pry my mental fingers off the manifestation, but I did manage to relinquish control and let it fly away into space.

A couple weeks or months later, Julie got a new job as a product manager for an online skincare company that focused on creating “powerful, personalized skincare formulas.” 

After her first day of orientation, she called me up and told me that a perk at her new job was the opportunity to gift a friend a lifetime¹ supply of skincare products. 

“Since we talk so much about skincare, I knew you’d be the best person to give it to!”

I never dreamed there was a company out there giving away a lifetime supply of lotions, cleansers, sunscreens, lip balms and tiny acne patches. 

I thought back to our podcast on Dreamlining. I thought back to the nights where I laid in bed, visualizing a world where I had access to rich, creamy lotion and high quality cleanser. 

I thought, I wasted this on LOTION!

Nothing makes you feel like you dreamt a little too small when the universe hands you exactly what you asked for and you realize it’s unscented lotion. 

No shade to the universe, my skin looks amazing now.

I decided to chalk this up to a tester. The universe letting me know it was listening and possibly laughing at how easy I was to please. 

If I believed that the universe was giving me what I asked for, I knew I was going to start asking for a lot more than clear skin.

However, it was hard for me to dream big at first. Whenever I first tried to imagine a greater life for myself, I found myself coming up against my own limiting beliefs.

I thought back to the Dreamlining exercise I did with my sister, why did I keep struggling with painting a rich life for myself? 

I realized a big part of manifesting is being vulnerable and admitting that I have dreams that may seem unattainable to myself and to others. Bigger dreams than what other people in my family had in the past. Going past the pimples and acne scars to look inside me and see what my secret hopes and wishes I held in my heart.

The one that I came back to over and over again was the one that scared me. I wanted to write, but I was scared to try and fail publicly. 

I knew I had to push past this though. I laid in bed and focused on visualizing again.

When I closed my eyes, I saw myself at a dinner party that I’m hosting in my beautiful home. Somewhere where I can see the forest outside my floor to ceiling windows and a peek of the setting sun. I realized in my life, I’m not alone. I’m surrounded by supportive friends and family members. I imagine we’re gathered to celebrate my successful writing project. I’m filled with joy because the people in my life have also launched their own projects and everyone is creating something that they love. 

I put together this visualization before I took my writing class last October. Before I launched my Substack. Before I made friends who are writers, YouTubers, and different kinds of creators.

While I was practicing my manifestations, I also learned that manifesting big things didn’t just end with closing my eyes and imagining the things I wanted. I realized that if the universe was giving me the things I asked for, I had to be careful with my speech. 

Saying things like, “I don’t need the money” or “I don’t care if we get big” were negative manifestations. It was telling the universe that I was rejecting those things. 

So I stopped. I stopped saying I didn’t want things that I would love to have. I enjoy writing, but would I love it if I was paid to do this? Heck yes! Bring on the abundance. 

Another interesting thing happened. By admitting I wanted things bigger than myself, I found I had to be more open and vulnerable. People asked me all the time for what I want in my future, and I had to be honest because I didn’t want to curse myself with a negative manifestation. 

I do believe the universe conspired to help me. But being vulnerable and telling people my dreams allowed them to conspire to help me too. My newfound earnestness and enthusiasm attracted people who loved rooting for me. 

There’s so much more positivity around me than negativity and with that comes an abundance of opportunities. My vibes are so high that things come my way before I even realize I’m asking for them: job opportunities, writing opportunities, a free bagel at the airport Panera. 

During Write of Passage at the end of last year, one of the mentors had us write FutureMe emails to ourselves. FutureMe would then deliver it to us in six months. I received mine last week.

On November 1st, I had 20 subscribers to my Substack, was tweeting to probably the same amount of people, and knew nothing about two out of the three communities I’d end up working with in 2023. Making money this year wasn’t even on my radar. All I knew was that I could attract what I asked for, so I wanted to be intentional. Even writing this was an act of vulnerability, I worried for a minute that I’d receive this email and nothing in my life would’ve changed. But I realized it was better to dream big and fall short than to prevent myself from having hope in order to spare my future feelings.

I didn’t stop at my material goals, I challenged myself to be even more vulnerable and I shared with my friends during Thanksgiving that I was actively looking for my husband and that I wanted their help. Suddenly, they had friends to set me up with.

I opened up even more and wrote an essay about my search for a partner. I helped the universe by throwing in my own $1000. I hope by manifestation logic, the universe will help me pay for that too².

Rearranged Marriage

Admitting that I wanted to find a partner was a big step for me. I thought it was obvious, wouldn’t everyone assume that I was looking for someone? A few friends pointed out that since moving to the desert, it seemed as though I had also deserted the opportunity to meet an eligible partner. Moreover, I didn’t tell anyone that this was a priority in my life. I hadn’t even fully admitted it to myself because you know, vulnerability.

I was inspired though to write about how I was looking for a husband and that encouraged people to reach out to make introductions. 

I’ve started to feel so confident in my ability to attract things, that I’ve started telling people that I’m going to meet my husband soon. Some of my friends are a little confused by my confidence (which is a little rude), and I can see I lose a few of them when I start to explain how it’s cosmically written in the stars for me. 

All this to say, try manifesting. Think of something you want. Visualize yourself having it. Don’t try to control how you receive it or in what time period. Let the universe know you are ready to receive it. 

And I suggest dreaming big, because you deserve a lot more than a lifetime supply of lotion.

1. A lifetime in silicon valley is apparently 5 years

2. Though I’m happy and grateful I have $1000 to give to a matchmaking friend!