THE LAW OF ATTRACTION: ARE WE MAKING THINGS WORSE FOR OURSELVES?

A lot is made these days of positive thinking and the so-called ‘law of attraction’. Indeed, a whole industry appears to have sprung up around it, with an avalanche of books, seminars, and self-help gurus. But is it really all it’s cracked up to be?

First things first then, let’s look at a similar law that was doing the rounds before this one hit the scene. Described by Alan Watts as the ‘backwards law’, it states that whatever we don’t want, we’re going to get a whole lot more of. The idea behind this is that the sheer act of wanting something implies a lack of it–a lack we can’t help but feel and express, whether we realise it or not.

So this runs pretty much parallel to the law of attraction, which tells us we can get whatever we want by imagining we already have it. Through certain visualisation and affirmation techniques–which to my mind treat the unconscious like some kind of dupe–we get ourselves into a state of positive and grateful expectation. In effect, we knock on the door of our desires and wait, all the while believing we’re already inside or on the verge of being admitted.

This requires, for me at least, the same sort of mental gymnastics as trying not to picture an elephant. For every one of us who can manage it, I suspect there are thousands more who can’t. And we aren’t just asked to ignore our material situation–the threadbare savings account, the leaking roof–but also to ‘fake it until we make it’ as part of hitting and maintaining a certain ‘vibrational frequency’.

And it’s this requirement to remain positive, to turn a blind eye to anything contradictory, that truly concerns me. The psychic energy required for this must be counterbalanced somehow, and I’ve seen the most upbeat people inflict random misery upon themselves and those around them. There’s also a danger of seeming callous or out of touch when refusing to acknowledge or engage with the ills of the world. And what about victim blaming? Do the poor and sick really deserve our pity when they could improve their lot simply by overcoming that negative mindset?

Another issue of concern is that the law of attraction movement seems geared so strongly towards the hedonistic. Frequent talk of wealth and abundance, promotional videos filled with images of cruise ships, luxurious villas, and sports cars–it all strikes me as out of kilter with the air of spirituality implied by the ‘ancient wisdom’ and ‘eternal secrets’ that supposedly underpin this law. Also, I doubt there’s enough physical matter on the planet–we’re talking ore, oil, and timber on a vast scale here–for every one of us to manifest what is ‘rightfully’ ours.

Of course, my arguments do suffer from at least a touch of the old straw man. There are surely plenty of benefits to adopting a more positive outlook on life, and despite not liking the labelling–it certainly isn’t a law in the commonly accepted sense–I won’t deny that in certain ways we do attract or manifest our desires (and our fears, unfortunately). And as for my thoughts on hedonism, no doubt there are plenty of people out there who are seeking or offering something much more meaningful.

Ultimately though, I’ll wager that the law of attraction is mostly used in the hope of accruing material wealth. And quite aside from the maxim that money can’t buy happiness, I fear we might actually be making things worse for ourselves. After all, if there’s any truth to Alan Watts’s backwards law, these feverish affirmations only serve to intensify our sense of lack. So forgive me if I go and find something else to do with my time instead.