| Monday, March 05, 2007 |
| I've got a Secret |
Just to show how out of touch I am with the zeitgeist, until last night, I had never heard of "The Secret." I learned about it from a Salon.com article; apparently, it's been featured on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and written up in Newsweek. What is "The Secret"? It's a supposed law of attraction that says if you think positively, you will attract positive things to you. "[The Secret] is like having the Universe as your catalogue. You flip through it and say, 'I'd like to have this experience and I'd like to have that product and I'd like to have a person like that.' It is you placing your order with the Universe. It's really that easy," according to Dr. Joe Vitale, a former Amway executive. Says "author and personal empowerment advocate" Lisa Nichols: "When you think of the things you want, and you focus on them with all of your intention, then the law of attraction will give you exactly what you want, every time." The DVD version of "The Secret" (it's also available as a book) shows a woman admiring a necklace in a shop window; then all of a sudden, it's around her neck. (Presumably, she didn't shoplift it.)
Unfortunately, as a cynical pessimistic hypochondriac worrywart, I'm quite sure "The Secret" wouldn't do a thing for me. I spent absolutely zero minutes wishing & hoping that I'd get a gigantic new TV set, and one showed up in my living room anyway. On the other hand, I am obsessively focused on my favorite rock band, Pavement, reuniting, and so far, the Universe has responded with a big fat "Hah!"
So... can any of my readers prove that "The Secret" works? Concentrate on a brand-new BMW or losing 10 pounds ("The Secret"'s take on dieting and weight loss are downright bizarre -- one of the recommendations boils down to, "Don't look at fat people!") and let me know if the Universe provides. In the meantime, I'll keep hoping that Stephen Malkmus never finds out about "The Secret," and that he won't use it to make his solo career a fabulous success, so some day he'll run out of money and have no choice but to reunite with his old Pavement bandmates. Then I'll wink up at the sky and say, "Thanks, Universe!" |
posted by 125records @ 11:24 AM  |
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| 10 Comments: |
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I think it a lot likelier that Malkmus's former bandmates are starving and begging him for a reunion.
Anyway: "The Secret" is more b.s. unreality-based hoodoo. I'm sick of this pervasive belief that reality is only what we believe it is - ranging in everything from "self-esteem" to encomiums praising "hope" to my students thinking that if they want something enough, it'll happen. The worst part is, of course, that if you believe all that, then anything bad that happens to anyone is, ultimately their own fault. How convenient.
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It makes for an interesting work ethic (on anything, from dieting onwards).
Instead of working harder, just wish harder!
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"Instead of working harder, just wish harder!" And hey, what's that piling up rapidly in the other hand? Smells kinda funny...
(The captcha today is an homage to Etruscan hero Armegnyx - Armegnyx! Armegnyx!)
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2fs, Sue, Neal:
Have you guys actually seen THE SECRET?
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I don't actually see things. I just read Sue's blog!
neal
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Two things...
1. If I had to sum the entire thing up, it's that the Law of Attraction
is all about alignment. You've got to do the "work" if you want to
bring something info your life.
This is where I think people mess up, which gives the entire thing the
"MLM/Amway" kind of vibe. You can't just sit around eating junk food
and watching reruns and expect to live on the beach...regardless of what
the infomercials say.
People like Joe Vitale are out working. Bob Proctor is out working.
James Ray is out working.
2. I found a FREE book (yes, FREE) that helped me figure out all of
this. http://www.receivethebook.com/ has it and it's well worth the read.
And like I said, it's FREE. So you can't argue that the guy is trying
to take advantage of people looking for a "magic pill" or whatever else
I've been hearing over the last 2-3 weeks since this thing hit Oprah.
http://www.receivethebook.com/
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Neal:
Hee.
Anyway, I wasn't trying to call anyone out I mostly meant: if you see the film, you might realize that it's pretty harmless. I'm a little suprised by the intensity of the backlash.
Reminds me of BORAT--so many people got upset about the film beore they even saw it, and then when they did: "Oh, ok, that was pretty funny."
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Several months ago (October?) Ellen's show had a segment about The Secret. She introduced it as being something very important that her show would cover more in the future. Then the guys came out and turned her stage into what felt like an infomercial.
After that episode, I don't think The Secret has been mentioned again on Ellen's show. I suspect something didn't turn out as hoped in that first appearance.
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Great info.
I watched the Secret DVD a few months ago and got another book on Law of Attraction,
but it didn't really start happening for me until I wrote down my intentions. I found that to be
VERY powerful.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0975436171/ is a book I just got, which makes
planning out your Law of Attraction goals easy. Just fill in the blanks and you've got a road
map to follow. Has been working well so far.
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THE SECRET sounds like a direct copy of the UNIVERSAL LAWS OF SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT Brian Tracy put out 20 years ago (not to mention THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING, which dates back to the early 1950s, I believe). I have not read or watched THE SECRET, but Tracy's theory was that your mental attitude directly affects your perception of the world and how you behave within your environment. Change your mental state and you can begin to correct situations that are holding you back from achieving your potential. It all seemed like common sense to me and not terribly mystical; I don't recall Tracy trying to convince anyone that you could think your way to thinness or anything like that. But I do remember listing your ambitions and goals was a big part of his program. If THE SECRET emphasizes finding clarity and taking action to change your life, hey, that's great. If it endorses the folly of "magical thinking" (if we just believe hard enough, we'll make it come true), then it's probably hogwash. Look how well that "Mission Accomplished" attitude worked for our fearless leaders...
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I think it a lot likelier that Malkmus's former bandmates are starving and begging him for a reunion.
Anyway: "The Secret" is more b.s. unreality-based hoodoo. I'm sick of this pervasive belief that reality is only what we believe it is - ranging in everything from "self-esteem" to encomiums praising "hope" to my students thinking that if they want something enough, it'll happen. The worst part is, of course, that if you believe all that, then anything bad that happens to anyone is, ultimately their own fault. How convenient.