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“The Power of Positive Thinking,” 1952, by Norman Vincent Peale, was on the New York Times Best Seller list for 186 consecutive weeks. The book blended a heady stew of religion-psychiatry with a light touch of bright shamanism, served with a creamy garlic sauce of Horatio Alger, and voila, a meal fit for a king or at worst a true believer, wanting to get ahead.
This mid-century hunger spawned a pantheon of preachers who sermonized on the theology of the power of prosperity. My personal favorite was Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II, better known to those of us who listened to his ministry, as Reverend Ike. “If you can see yourself in a Cadillac, then you will have the Cadillac.”
Do You Believe in Manifesting?
Does this kind of positive thinking help you find hope in the face of uncertainty? Or is it just too unrealistic?
Credit.Natalia Mantini for The New York Times
Jan. 28, 2021
Do you believe that it is possible to make good things happen for yourself simply by thinking about them? Have you ever tried?
If so, you are among the many members of Gen Z who practice manifesting, or “achieving material and psychic rewards through sheer force of mind.”
Do you think that this method of positive thinking is a helpful tool for coping with uncertainty, especially during the coronavirus pandemic? Or do you agree with some critics of the practice, who argue that it is an unrealistic fad embraced by misguided or entitled practitioners?
Manifesting, for the Rest of Us
A new generation has turned to an eons-old practice of envisioning positive outcomes.
Credit.Natalia Mantini for The New York Times
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By the time he was 9, Jerome Lamaar had learned how to seize on his heart’s desire. “I was hoping to get my hands on the Power Ranger Flip Heads,” said Mr. Lamaar, a 35-year-old, Bronx-bred fashion designer. “I never told anyone, but I wanted these toys so bad. I sat in my room holding this scenario in my head of how I would feel when I got them.”