Step Ten
EXPANDERS
Seeing is believing it's possible for yourself.
What inspires us about others is a mirror of our capacity and capability. Therefore, when we watch a movie and get entranced, or we become obsessed with an actor, a character in a book, a public figure, social media figure, or someone we admire in our daily lives – we are actually projecting unmet aspects of ourselves onto them. Therefore, they are mirroring the potential that lives within us, which may still be subconsciously hiding.
Have you ever encountered a mentor, maybe IRL, on social media, or in the public eye, and you became so transfixed by them, inspired by them – possibly OBSESSED with them? By the way they dress, carry themselves, live their life, delegate business, admire their relationship, their respect for the world, the way they speak, maybe you even have a same sex or opposite sex crush (both platonic and or sexual)? It’s as if they are so much like you or who you aspire to be?
Have you ever experienced an obsession with someone of the opposite sex? Say an actor in a show or a movie. Then you find yourself googling their whole life story. And you’re secretly convinced that you two are weirdly supposed meet in some kismet way because you’re destined for one another? Have you ever been so heart connected to a relationship in a favorite show that you watch, and you can’t understand what it is about the dynamic that makes you feel weird for how eerily invested you are in it?
This isn’t just a coincidence. It isn’t even fictitious.
This is where shadow work gets fun in way of manifestation. Don’t let these obsessions, crushes, infatuations, heroes, and dynamics simply pass you by. There is something more powerful going on here! Your subconscious is communicating to you , for it's showing you aspects of yourself that are wanting to be honored and acted on.
On a manifestation level, your soul is giving you clues about what you need to open up to in order to follow the blueprint of your divine life roadmap. Stay with me.
When we idolize or obsess over these heroes, crushes, influencers, and public figures, it is actually our soul projecting what we are personally capable of or what we need to open up to in order to receive what we’ve been calling in.
Because every single one of us inhabits the full spectrum of humanness, those very aspects of these heroes or crushes who are bringing you so much inspiration are actually a reflection of your aspects that have gotten lost or have yet to be tapped into. This is usually due to societal, media, parental, or peer programming. Or these influencers or public figures represent aspects of yourself that you haven’t even met because you didn’t realize you are deserving of this aspect. Or you haven’t had the chance to meet these aspects yet, for nobody “expanded” you into realizing that you're capable of your unique version of these aspects and qualities. If you're finding yourself attracted to your hero's influence, it's because you're seeing the amount of influence you have within yourself. We project these unmet aspects of ourselves onto our mentors.
PLATONIC PROJECTIONS • Let’s take three examples. Three inspirations that come to mind for me are Oprah, Lincoln, and Richard Branson. When I boil down my inspiration towards each: Oprah made spirituality and alternative lifestyle normal and accessible to the mainstream. Lincoln believed in justice and equality that transcended race. Richard Branson leads with creativity and playfulness when it comes to each business endeavor, and I love that he’s childlike and open in interviews.
You guys probably have entirely different opinions of each of these figures. Or possibly even dislike them. It goes to show that what I’m projecting onto Oprah is the gift I have for making spirituality normal and accessible to all. I’m projecting onto Lincoln the justice and equality that deciphers my values. And I’m projecting onto R.B. the deeper creativity and playful, childlikeness that’s waiting for me to incorporate it into my work.
LOVE FANTASY PROJECTIONS • When we obsess, crush on, or fall in love with a public figure, character, relationship, or even someone IRL, this is a fantasy projection of what you’re desiring in a partner. For instance, I have a client who grew up wealthy on the upper East Side in Manhattan. She’s only dated older, very successful men like her father. Over the last year, she grew increasingly obsessed with a character from Sons Of Anarchy. His toughness, his realness, his grit, his dark and light nature, his rawness, his long hair, his ruggedness, and the list goes on. This has happened to a few of my clients who are convinced they are supposed to weirdly end up with the actor they are projecting on. “I mean, it’s LA so anything could happen,” they say. And without fail, they’ll end up meeting a man IRL who embodies the aspects of the character that my clients were drawn to.
This particular client did just that. Though he wasn’t the actor, this actor simply served as an Expander to allow her to get out of the rigidity of her subconscious patterns and expand her beliefs into seeing what her soul was desiring. This is very common. These are called Fantasy Projections – though I call them Expanders in manifestation.
INVENTORY
Take inventory of any platonic or fantasy projections that you have in your life right now. Especially those of you that are manifesting career clarity or relationships.
JOURNAL
i. List four public figures or people IRL that you are deeply inspired by.
ii. Make a list of all the attributes about each one of these people as to why you are inspired by them.
iii. Boil that list down to the essence of aspect. (example: influential, powerful, resourceful...)
iv. Once you have that, look at your life to witness if you are living out these aspects fully, or even at all. (example: are you being as influential, powerful, resourceful as you can be?)
v. Are you being called to be these aspects but you’ve been suppressing them?
vi. How could you really step into this aspect in all areas of your life more?
vii. What baby step could you take today, tomorrow, and the day after to begin living this aspect?
*If you have a Fantasy Projection in your life, boil down the aspects that draw you to that person and incorporate those into your “partner manifestation list.”
*adapted from Light Chaser and my own exercise.
EXPANDERS TO KEEP YOU GOING
“I have been able to manifest money and a job. I have had several tests with jobs that were not for my worth but that I would previously accept out of fear to find something else or of being afraid of running out of money. Each time I doubted I would write it in Lacy’s secret society and I always received the love and encouragement in order to keep on the right track and get what I truly deserve. My expanders have been ordinary people that little by little have made things happen and have manifested what they truly wanted, even people who manifested without even knowing about manifesting at all but by being truly authentic. Those are the people that inspire me to have the life I deserve and to become the best version of me.“