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I love Totnes. I spend a lot of time in cafes in the town writing on my laptop. The conversations one overhears here are rarely like conversations in any other part of the world. Suffice to say, if the word “chakras” doesn’t come up at least once, I find myself glancing up from my Lapsang to check that everything is OK.
I met up with a couple of friends today who I haven’t seen for a few months. After we’d caught up on what we’ve been doing, respectively, since we last met the conversation turned naturally to what we are going to manifest in the year ahead. We were sitting in Willow, one of Totnes’ most popular vegetarian restaurants. “So, what are you going to manifest this year?” asked Jenn. “Miracles and joy,” I replied. “Sounds good,” she said, “but I think you might need to be more specific. The universe needs clearer direction than that.”
No-one looked up from their chickpea and mangetout salad.
Jenn and her husband had an extraordinarily successful year of manifesting last year, achieving pretty much everything they had asked the universe for, including the smooth sale of their house, the sale of their business and the chance to build their own cabin in acres of Devon farmland and go and live off-grid.
We found ourselves talking about what makes for really successful manifesting. It was, in essence, a mini manifesting masterclass with Mangetout salad on the side. It’s all stuff I know but sometimes it’s great to hear it re-iterated, particularly by people who are glowing with happiness at their recent manifesting success.
Jenn reminded me that it is good to set a clear intent for what we want to happen in our lives but then to let it go, not to focus on the fact that what we want hasn’t yet shown up because this awareness of not having it simply serves to draw more lack towards us. Having set our intent, the tricky but crucial next step is to turn our attention away from what we want, focusing with gratitude on what we already have and trusting that what we’ve asked for is on its way. It can be hard to trust this when everything feels like it has come apart in our hands but that is when we need our trust most.
Throughout the last few difficult months as I have battled with my inner darkness, a still, small voice inside my head has kept repeating “trust and faith” to me. It has almost become my mantra. I have no idea what I am supposed to trust in or have faith about, to be honest, that bit hasn’t yet become clear to me. But, when I hear that voice – sometimes little more than a whisper on the breeze – it feels calming and reassuring. Maybe some people would call this the voice of God. I call it my own intuition or collective consciousness calling to me.
The couple I met today both said that there were occasions last year when it felt like everything they had asked for had gone awry, but they kept the faith and the universe merely brought it to them in a way that they didn’t expect – via the back door, so to speak. It was good to be reminded of this today by these two master manifesters. It’s so easy to become fixated on what we don’t have and so unhelpful.
I find it fun to practice manifesting things that I’d like to have but that don’t feel crucial for my life. It’s somehow easier to trust that these things will show up because it matters far less if they don’t. Ironically, they invariably turn up although I don’t always know when. As an example, I manifested a pair of pink boots today that I’ve wanted for a number of years. It didn’t really matter to me if I didn’t get these boots. I knew my life wouldn’t be the poorer in any way. But they did show up today, in exactly the style, exactly the shade of pink and exactly the size I’d asked for. How lovely. No doubt they’ll be making their debut on the blog before long!
Meanwhile, for today’s outfit. I bought this dress last year sometime from Paul, the rag trader. Can you guess the price? Yep, £2.50. It is made from a rather strange material – almost like the stuff they use to line jackets – and it’s a bit too tight on the chest so it takes some wriggling to get into it. In fact, last year I was at least one dress size larger than I am now if not two and I found it more or less impossible to get this on, but I couldn’t bear to part with it. Consequently this is the first time I’ve actually worn it.
I love the style of it, with its quirky ruched hem and I really like the shot silk effect of the fabric (it’s not silk, unfortunately, but some kind of manmade material). I wore it with this beautiful felted jacket by Jobis that I bought from Totnes market for £10 and a hand-dyed and loomed wool scarf that I absolutely adore. It is made by a local maker whose name, unfortunately, I’ve forgotten. The hat is by Alison Bullen, also felted.
The photos were taken in and around Totnes, including one in Castle Meadow with the castle on the hill behind me.
Dress: Hanna for La Journee
Jacket: Jobis
Scarf: artisan made
Hat: Anne Bullen
