The Secret and the Cult of disinfo

I’ve become increasingly alarmed by the hysterical fervor (now dying out thank God!) over Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret. Byrne has presented a seductive manifesto that appeals to people who, failing to make their lives work, find the pre-rational, childishly magical arguments in The Secret captivating.

While I agree in theory with the law of attraction, the Secret presents an incomplete and unworkable model and plenty of folks are going to be very disappointed by the results…or lack thereof.

You see, while our thoughts do create reality it’s because our thoughts sponsor our actions by focusing us on an outcome. However, The Secret would have us believe that no action is required at all. That by merely blissing out and thinking of what we want, the universe will cause it to solidify effortlessly.

For those who believe that, let me tell you a story: Once I was fat and un-fit. Hey, what do you expect? It’s a pretty frequent phenomenon over here in the united States of Fat Asses. Anyway, I read fitness magazines and Body For Life, browsed health food stores for the latest supplements and generally spent alot of time wishing I was in shape. You know what? I still occupied the highest strata of all fat asses despite the mental attention I gave fitness.

However, when I brought my actions into alignment with my desires guess what? I got in shape. Was it easy? Hell no! (That’s “H-E-double hockey sticks no” to you prudes) Every evidence in the world said I was not manifesting my goal. But as my belly slapped me in the face during my wheezing, winded runs, as I lifted weights like a girl and drank Myoplex till I was in chronic gag reflex, a change began to happen. The laws of nature had no choice but to acquiesce to my relentless insistence that yes indeed I was in shape and over the course of months, my body transformed. In fact, I became a personal trainer.

So, could I have gotten in shape by visualizing and dreaming? Of course not. On the other hand, could I have gotten in shape by merely taking massive action without focusing my mind on the goal? No.

So, The Secret will only work in tandem with action. It’s not a mystical panacea but rather a method whereby a firmly held desire becomes a future vision attractor that creates restless urgency in your being and inspires you to actively midwife it into your experience and give it tangible scope.

Finally, the other problem I have with The Secret is the self centered narcissism it promotes. Not once is it suggested that The Secret can be used to build a better world and help our fellow humans. It just tells us we can have mansions and cars and designer clothes. Well, while I see nothing wrong with that inherently, I think prioritizing that over the well being of humanity is totally jacked. We won’t have a world where we can enjoy material finery if we don’t raise the consciousness of the planet first. That’s why I hereby declare The Secret another subtle piece of deceptive disinfo.