The Dos and Don'ts of Manifesting

Or, what "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" can teach us about the law of attraction

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Every December 26th, I’m at a complete musical loss. What did I listen to the first eleven months of the year? Did music even exist?

How did I wake up if not with the musical stylings of Michael Buble pouring in through the Marshall speaker in the living room while the sweet smell of coffee filled the air? What did I belt in the shower if not Joni Mitchell’s pleas for a river to skate away on? What if not Karen Carpenter’s Christmas cooing soothed me as I drove? And what, pray tell, did my neighbor practice for hours on end before she decided this was the year she would master Gayla Peevey’s “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” while accompanying herself on the keyboard?

After the 134th or so listen of that song, something remarkable happens. It stops becoming the most obnoxious just another festive little ditty and starts becoming a magical road map for manifesting your dream life: a perfectly infectious and impressively straightforward guide to getting what you want in the new year.

And I’m here to break it down for you.

We’ll start with the dos - the gems of manifesting instruction hidden in plain sight in the lyrics to “I Want a Hippopotamus.” After that, we’ll cover three common pitfalls of manifesting that also happen in this song, including at least one that I know we won’t all agree on.

Ready? Let’s dive in.

MANIFESTING DO #1: Be crystal clear about what you want.

The first rule of manifesting is that we must be clear about what we want.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
Only a hippopotamus will do.
I don't want a doll, no dinky Tinkertoy.
I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy.

If we put out some vague, half-baked notion of what we kinda sorta want, the Universe will go to work delivering some vague, half-baked notion of what we kinda sorta want. That’s how the law of attraction works, after all.

Gayla Peevey clearly knows this as she does not mince words. She wants a hippopotamus - full stop. And, as a matter of fact, “only a hippopotamus will do.”

She even goes on to specify that she doesn’t want a hippo doll or a dinky hippo toy. No, sir! She wants a real life hippopotamus and she is not afraid to ask for it.

Gayla Peevey and Mathilda the hippopotamus at the Oklahoma City Zoo in 1953 (Credit: The Oklahoman)

The first lesson for successful manifesting is simple: Ask for what you want. Not what you think is easier or faster or cheaper or will not ruffle feathers or won’t get the neighbors talking or your relatives thinking you’re uppity.

Afraid people will think a hippopotamus is ridiculous? Well, of course they will. It’s a hippopotamus for Christ’s sake! But that’s not our concern.

If a hippopotamus is what you want, then a hippopotamus is what you shall set out to manifest. Be decisive and full-throated about it. Seven of Cups-style uncertainty and indecision and hemming and hawing will not serve you here. (The Seven of Wands is instructive here as well, now that I think about it!)

Manifesting Do #2: Make sure your motives are positive.

But why on earth does Gayla Peevey want a hippopotamus, you might be wondering. To impress the neighbors? Because her best friend’s fiance just got her a hippopotamus and isn’t Gayla just as good as her and doesn’t she deserve a hippopotamus too?

No. None of the above. She wants a hippopotamus simply “to play with and enjoy.”

The Universe loves a pure motive that is aligned with our highest good. Think that magical puppies and rainbows Ten of Cups energy! Manifesting something because we know in our heart of hearts (or at least have a very good reason to guess that in all likelihood) will bring us joy, comfort, peace, security, or some other positive sentiment or experience is speaking the Universe’s language.

Envy, ulterior motives, resentment, anger, frustration, and other “low vibe” emotions don’t fuel our personal magic as well. While these emotions are certainly natural and unavoidable (no toxic positivity here, tarot friends!), they aren’t feeling states that are fun or beneficial to dwell and meditate on.

So ask yourself why you want the thing you want to manifest in the coming year. And be honest with yourself! Because nobody other than you needs to know the response to this question. If the feeling behind your desire is a little too Knight of Swords, for instance, dig a bit deeper and see what you can learn about yourself and how you can shift to a slightly different desire or need that could better serve you in this moment.

Manifesting Do #3: Visualize receiving what you want and how you’ll feel when you get it.

I can see me now on Christmas morning
Creeping down the stairs.
Oh, what joy and what surprise
When I open up my eyes
To see my hippo hero standing there!

Detailed and emotion-fueled visualization is truly the engine behind manifesting. This is the stage - or ritual - during which the magical working takes place. In other words, I believe this visualization - be it journaling, drawing, meditation, whatever action helps you see your desire in the most vivid detail and color and emotion - is when the spell is actually cast.

Gayla Peevey doesn’t just think about a hippopotamus in the abstract. In fact, she doesn’t even think about her hippo hero in immense detail. She specifically - and here’s the magic ingredient - imagines how amazing she will feel when she gets what she wants.

Emotions are the fuel to visualization. Conventional manifesting wisdom states that “high vibe” feelings like gratitude, love, joy, and excitement - along with trust and faith in the Universe - work way better to attract what we want than doubt, skepticism, frustration, even apathy or indifference.

Plus, who wants to spend time every day visualizing something that doesn’t give them a slight thrill to imagine coming true? I certainly don’t.

Okay. So far, Gayla Peevey is doing great manifesting her hippopotamus. So what could possibly be the problem?

There are three very common pitfalls present in the song as well. I have personally fallen for these a few times, and perhaps you have too. Getting caught up in these manifesting don’ts can stall or completely prevent the success of our manifestations in the coming year.

The last one might be particularly controversial, so I’d love to hear your views on that one (and anything else in this week’s newsletter, of course!).