Have a look at Valerie Reiss’ response to the publishing phenomenon called “The Secret.” She rightly points out that the notion of attracting positive energy and “manifesting” a new reality is nothing new, and mentions a book by Esther and Jerry Hicks called “The Law of Attraction.” There’s another famous volume I’ve heard about, written by Florence Scovill Shinn in 1925 called “The
Game of Life and How to Play It,” in which she too discloses that your thoughts have the power to create your experiences.

But Reiss (who has had cancer) goes on to tackle the truly icky viewpoint that “The Secret” seems to manifest: that if something bad ever happens to you, your anger, unfinished business, or negative viewpoints brought it on. Reiss writes:

…no one to my satisfaction addresses the blame-the-victim issue at the slippery heart of this; in a culture that’s already not too fond of “losers,” do we really need another reason to disdain or pity those who suffer because they’re not “manifesting” the right reality? In a culture that already likes to look away from systemic political and economic oppression (bo-ring!), do we need another excuse to walk away from it all and say, “not my problem”?

“The Secret” feels like white rice to me—stripped of its nutrition for maximum palatability and fluffy appeal. And I’m all for fluff, with the Entertainment Weekly subscription to prove it. But not when it comes to something as serious as creating genuine joy and peace. That should be sacred-—done with a combination of faith in a force that knows better than I do and compassionate free will to make my life and the world a better place. Manifest that, Universe.

Read the whole piece here.