Demystifying Manifestation: Beyond "Like Attracts Like"

Manifestation and the law of attraction are mainstream concepts in the world of spirituality and personal development. The ability to shape your reality through intentional thought, co-creation, and vibrational alignment has gained global popularity over the last few decades.

In my view, it’s a fun and creative framework to explore and live life from since it empowers you to co-pilot your life with help from your co-creative partners and the Universe. I teach and coach from a consciousness-first framework of manifestation and co-creation because it works. It can bring about delightful and surprising positive results when done with intelligence and discernment.

In this blogpost, I touch on an important point of clarification for this global discourse to support your manifestation success—the misconception that every experience is a direct result of your point of attraction.

The Complexity of the Science of Manifestation

The prevailing idea that like attracts like has its merits. It’s safe to assume that your intention attracted the desired manifestation when you experience manifestation success. Not only is that a safe assumption but it is an accurate outcome of co-creating with Universal Intelligence. When you go on that process of setting an intention, getting aligned, and then seeing success through synchronicity, you did attract that experience.

However, seeing manifestation as an outcome of matching vibrations oversimplifies a complex process that involves different dimensional processes in the Universe, both local and nonlocal. There are Universal Laws that govern the emergence of nonlocal probabilities into actual experiences in the physical dimension. The alignment of your intention, which includes your vision, values, preferences, and beliefs with a fulfilling outcome, unfolds through a complex underlying universal process that includes:

• Inputs and feedback from Universal Intelligence

• The conscious effort and self-regulation you exert

• Your success at staying vibrationally aligned

• The orderly synchronistic orchestration of events by the Universe

These facets of the co-creative process work together to bring an intention to fruition in the physical domain. A simple math equation of 1+1=2  is built on a larger system of numbers, patterns in nature, and a fundamental principle of equality. Math is simple on the surface, yet it's built on a diverse and complex set of rules and principles that make math make sense. You can apply similar logic to the science of manifestation.

There are complex cosmic and quantum processes that actively work to organize your manifestation experience. From the cognitive self-regulation required to get clear and set your intention to the higher dimensional and nonlocal processes that come into play when you stay aligned and coherent, there are many processes at work that bring a probability into a lived reality.

There are things you must do, like staying clear, prioritizing your intention, taking meaningful and inspired action as I teach in my Manifestation Masterclass, and maintaining forward momentum. There is also the broader context to consider.

Manifestation as an Emerging Evolutionary Skill

Part of the complexity is that manifestation is an emerging evolutionary process and skill for humans. It's a new paradigm based on new assumptions about the nature of life, the cosmos, and human beings. Generalizing that everything you experience is something you attract ignores the intricate dance between this emerging evolutionary change and the existence of old ideas and structures that are based on different beliefs and paradigms. It’s important to contextualize manifestation within the broader understanding of evolution.

From my perspective as an author and coach in this field, manifestation is an emerging evolutionary skill for humans. Humans have gained or are gaining the capacity to develop this skill of co-creating with one another and the Universe to influence what potentials can manifest from the quantum field into their experiences. Co-creatively attracting and manifesting outcomes from the quantum field is something you can think of as an emergence into a new world. It’s a new reality and a new way of being. That emergence, however, doesn’t mean you’ve completely transcended the beliefs, ideas, artifacts, and social structures of the old world or paradigms.

As you evolve to develop and fine-tune your co-creative ability, it helps to recognize you didn’t manifest the existing structures of the old world or paradigm, those were pre-existing “conditions” that have become included in the new context of manifestation and co-creation.

Manifestation works, and when you have a map of manifestation that goes beyond a simple “like attracts like” explanation, you can navigate life’s diverse currents as a co-creator more effectively.

Conscious Evolution as an Empowering Principles, Not Over-Responsibility

Conscious creation and the ideas behind co-creatively attracting what you want in life are empowering principles. They allow you to consciously and pro-actively evolve from intention rather than from stress and reactivity. They encourage ideas like “be the change you wish to see,” by equipping you with the internal skills you need to transform yourself and your life from the inside out. By managing your vibration, updating your beliefs and mental models, and learning to create empowering narratives, you can co-creatively influence the trajectory of your present and future circumstances. You can consciously evolve.

In that understanding and receptivity to empowerment as a co-creator, it’s also important to adapt ideas that don’t result in over-responsibility. Believing that everything that comes on your path or journey is a direct result of your vibration neglects the context within which you’ve gained the capacity to develop this evolutionary power.  Enjoyable manifestation experiences come from finding a balance between conscious co-creation and acknowledging the intricate, multifaceted nature of the cosmos and life on earth.

The concept of "like attracts like" can suggest a level of micromanagement by universal forces where it seems every moment of your day is orchestrated. Think of a world that is unfolding with both the laws of classical and quantum physics. There are existing events and conditions for which you had no part in creating and there are nonlocal potentials you can co-creatively influence into manifestation to change the your life and co-creatively the world.

What’s empowering about knowing that you aren’t attracting everything you encounter is that you can say “yes” or “no” to the things showing up that you didn’t attract. If you like existing conditions that become a part of your manifestation journey, you can embrace them. If you don’t like existing conditions, you can either say “no” or co-creatively influence how that existing condition unfolds moving forward without believing you co-created that situation or event. As a conscious, intelligent being with the ability to shape your experiences, you can exercise choice in how you navigate your unique paths to manifestation. 

Releasing the "I Attract Everything" Mindset

Releasing the idea that you attract everything that comes into your experience is part of empowered conscious creation. It’s also a key part of emotionally healthy spirituality. I encourage you to embrace the idea that you attract what aligns with your vision and intentions. Doing so helps you practice healthy discernment and empowers you to say “yes” or “no” to things that come up with confidence. It helps you create and maintain healthy manifestation boundaries that nurture and protect your personal dreams, ambitions, and aspirations.

Maintaining a balanced view of the evolutionary context of your experience allows you to exercise discernment, intuition, free will, and higher wisdom in choosing what and who enters your life. Having the co-creative power to shape your reality while honoring the complexities of human existence in this evolutionary context gives you an appropriate level of responsibility for what you can claim as your sphere of influence.

Conclusion: Your Role in the Co-creative Dance

Manifestation and working with the law of attraction goes beyond the simplistic idea that every experience is a vibrational match. By understanding the complexities of cocreation, you empower yourself to navigate life's varied landscapes with intelligence and discernment. Embrace the principles that serve you, but always remember your role as a conscious, empowered being in the beautiful dance of deliberate creation. You can choose what you include, attract, and stay in alignment with.

About Kidest OM

Kidest OM is an author, teacher, and educator guiding individuals through personal development and consciousness evolution. As a futurist and co-creator, she offers insightful perspectives and practical tools for manifestation and cultural evolution. Her books include "Manifesting Health & Longevity: New Realities from Quantum Biological Human Beings" and "Nothing in the Way: Clearing the Paths to Success & Fulfilment" which are available globally in eBook, print, and audiobook on her website and through online book retailers. You can also find more inspiration and motivation from Kidest on her blog and social media channels.