“Great…sounds good,” he continues, “are you in the mood for pasta?”
“Yes, pasta!” Your mouth is watering now.
“Wonderful, we have spaghetti, linguini, penne, ravioli, and farfalle.”
You mind races at all these possible options and then WHAM—you remember how much you love ravioli.
“Ravioli, please.”
“Sounds great. Would you like spinach and ricotta ravioli with cream sauce or butternut squash ravioli in a light brown butter sage sauce?”
“Oh, the butternut squash ravioli, please.” You can practically taste it as the words roll off your tongue. A short while later, you are in pasta heaven. Perfection! Big grin, happy belly.
Let’s break this scenario down.
At first, you know you’re starving, but you don’t know what you want. If you simply told the waiter that you wanted food, without any additional details, you may or may not have been pleased with what he served you. Without being told—or given any hint whatsoever—chances are you would have been given a dish that would have satisfied your hunger, but not necessarily thrilled or delighted you.
A hamburger can be ho-hum if you really wanted Italian instead! And it’s not just any type of Italian food, it was a specific dish that tickled your fancy. Oh, that butter sage sauce! Delicious.
Now imagine that the “Universe” is the waiter.
(Please note: The “Universe” that I am referring to can be called many things, but I like to think of it as divine energy or source energy—the place from which we all came from and where we will likely return. I welcome you to substitute whatever language feels most appropriate to you, like God, Goddess, Love, or whatever term feels right.)
So, the idea here is that the Universe wants to bring you whatever your heart desires. It’s there, every moment of every day, listening for the details of exactly what you want—listening for the things that will make your heart sing and your soul be satisfied. Listening with a pen and paper in hand, ready to jot down what you desire so it can support you in delivering it into your life experience—exactly as you wish.
This is the basis of the Law of Attraction, which states that what you focus on, you attract to you. So, the more specific details you can provide, the better.
If you’re vague about what you want, you will get vague results.
Let’s say you want to be…happy. What does that look like for you?
Lounging in a room full of Golden Retriever puppies who are licking your face?
Cruising down Mulholland Drive in LA in a flashy red Lamborghini?
Receiving a humanitarian award in front of a supportive crowd?
If you just said “I want to be happy” and left it at that, you could get the Lamborghini when you really wanted the award!
So, what are you hungry for? Specifically?
Spend some time contemplating that question. See what comes up for you. We’ll circle back to that question very soon. In a few pages, I’ll invite you to do a guided visualization so you can get really, really clear about what you’re wishing for.
Before we get there, here’s a little interlude…it’s the story of how I made one of the biggest wishes of my life: the wish to build a brand new company, called Wishbeads.
The Download: How Wishbeads Was Born
Have you ever experienced that magic moment when everything comes in a flash—the big idea, the insight, the answer you’ve been waiting for. Boom! You’re strolling through the park, or stuck in traffic, and suddenly an idea strikes you like lightning. It all pours into your brain. It’s almost like you’re downloading information from a mystical Wi-Fi signal in the sky—a giant file zipping straight into your heart from a master computer.
My company, Wishbeads, got downloaded just like that.
One morning, on a day that started out just like any other day, I was taking a shower. Between shampoo and conditioner, I heard the name “Wishbeads” and out of nowhere I could see the first product: a bracelet created from wishes written on paper, worn daily as a reminder to take action toward your deepest desires. In that same moment, I knew this piece of jewelry would become a vehicle to empower people across the globe. This little bracelet would help to make wishes come true. Even though I was in the middle of a hot, steamy shower, I got chills!
Before I go any further, it’s important to understand a few events that happened just prior to my download from the Universe.
The first was a family trip to Lucca, Italy. We were celebrating my in-laws’ fiftieth wedding anniversary. We spent a glorious week filled with endless hours of sightseeing, biking, and strolling the streets of this charming, ancient town.
One afternoon, we happened upon a craft fair in one of the piazzas. I was immediately drawn to an artist who was creating goods from paper and cloth, one of which was a collection of necklaces with beads made from rolled fabric and paper. When I saw them, I immediately stopped in my tracks. There was an unmistakable energy coming off of those necklaces that was inexplicably exciting to me.
I immediately purchased a few for myself and bunches for my friends. In the days that followed, I kept speaking about my newfound treasures and sharing my elation with all of my family members, who at one point expressed their bewilderment as to why I was so taken with these necklaces.
“Aren’t they aaahhh-MAZ-ing?!” I would repeat over and over again.
A few weeks after I returned home to California, I was speaking about the necklaces with a good friend of mine who casually said, “You know Alexa, you could probably make them yourself.”
So I got curious. Then I got crafty.
I’m the mother of two boys, so I must admit, crafting had been on the back burner for many, many years. I’m a tomboy by nature, so raising young lads inspired me to learn to throw a football with a mean spiral. I even started taking karate lessons from the children’s Sensei. I’m more of jock now than when I was a teenager! Crafting was entirely off my radar.
I soon found myself cruising the aisles of Michael’s and heading to the dollar store in search of supplies to create my own paper bead and fabric necklaces. I bought elastic, five types of Mod Podge, scraps of paper, fabric cuts offs and more. Sunday afternoons were filled with messes on the kitchen table. There was no purpose to this play. It was fun for fun’s sake and I loved getting my hands dirty.
I glued wrapping paper, newspaper, and scraps of paper just laying around the house until I found just the right consistency for my liking. Sticky bliss.
Then came the second incident.
One night, I had the honor of spending the evening with an extraordinary group of women who were transitioning out of homelessness. I was a guest speaker at our local community center. That night I was sharing some insights about the power of positive thoughts and the energy of intention. I demonstrated how powerful a single positive thought can be on your entire body and how that energy can carry you through difficult times.
While I was standing in front of those brave women, I recognized how impossible their situations seemed to be—certainly in comparison to my own. I, by all rights, have had a very charmed life. There was a part of me that felt discussing the power of positive thoughts might be minimizing the reality that lay ahead of them. But I persisted.
I went on to explain how they can choose to focus their mind on a single object that inspires them—the sunset, a smile, a flower blooming—and that energy will help carry them through the moments of doubt and uncertainty that will inevitably arise. I encouraged them to visualize their future home and the security they so deserved. We spoke about faith. We spoke about personal power and the necessity of celebrating small wins along the way. The end result was an evening of laughter, connection,