Beyond The Secret Backlash

Oprah smiles on Victoria's Michael J. Losier

by KATHY SINCLAIR

For a guy who’s been chatting with Oprah, Michael J. Losier sounds remarkably calm.

The Victoria author of the bestselling book Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don’t was recently interviewed by the queen of daytime TV herself, on Oprah and Friends Radio (XM Satellite).

Pretty notable, given that the self-published book has no marketing budget and Losier has never sent Oprah as much as a press release.

But Losier’s taking it in stride. The events of the past few months, he says, are proof of a force we all experience. Law of Attraction has sold 200,000 copies to date and has consistently been on amazon.com’s top 10. Four New York publishers are now bidding on rights to the second edition; he spent most of April on tour in Australia.

Law of Attraction picks up on momentum created by The Secret, the film touted by Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, Larry King, and others that purports that the energy you put out into the world is what you get back. But the idea is nothing new, Losier says.

“I’ve taught about 80,000 people about the Law of Attraction since 1996 and my book came out in 2003. It’s not really a ‘secret’ at all,” the author said on the phone from Kamloops, where he gave a talk to 600, in early April.

The message, Losier says, is not just for those who consider themselves “spiritual.”

“Anytime we use the words coincidence or serendipity or synchronicity or fate or karma or meant-to-be or ‘wow, everything just fell into place,’ we’ve just experienced evidence of the Law of Attraction.”

Four years ago, Losier was asked to participate in The Secret, but he declined.

“You know how you get that gut feeling?” he asks. “[Later] when it came out, I thought, ‘Oh, shit, I think I missed an opportunity.’ But after watching it, it was really clear to me…I’m really glad I’m not in it, because it’s created the demand for what I’m doing.”

With Law of Attraction, Losier is perfectly poised to respond to what some are calling the major problems with The Secret: oversimplification, a lack of practical tools, and an emphasis on materialism.

“I’ve been in contact with [Oprah’s] TV producers for some time. They’re looking for a [Secret] ‘backlash-fixer-upper.’ And that’s me.”

The Secret has had a positive effect, Losier says. But it’s missing a key part of the Law of Attraction’s equation.

“The whole notion that you only need to ask for [something] once and put it out there [is not true]. You need to keep giving it attention,” he says. “And you need to remove the doubt about receiving it”—a principle he calls “allowing.”

“If, on one hand, you say, ‘I’d like to have 10 new clients,’ but on the other hand, a little voice is saying, ‘I can’t have 10 new clients,’ then the negative vibration of your doubt is casting out the positive vibration of your desire.”

The film is also missing the “how-to,” Losier says, adding that people tell him they watch The Secret over and over. “If someone’s watching a self-help thing 20 times, it’s not helping,” he says, laughing. His book features a number of practical exercises.

And what about The Secret’s dark, materialistic side? As many have pointed out, the film depicts people lusting after, and obtaining, jewellery and cars. Is the Law of Attraction really about getting rich?

“All of that stuff is possible, but you need to clean up your entire vibration first,” Losier says. “I’m always talking about just having a really good vibration, and changing your thoughts, and changing your words, and then you start to attract more like-minded people. It is possible to use Law of Attraction to attract [financial prosperity], but that’s not my emphasis.”

Will the Law of Attraction always give you what you want? Does it breed a culture of narcissism? Whatever you think of the theory, there’s no denying it’s a message people of all backgrounds are eager to hear.

“Two years ago, when I was touring across Canada, [audiences were primarily] women over the age of 35,” Losier says. “And in the last year, there’s no common denominator. There are women and men and children and seniors and teenagers…young adults and young men, plumbers and pipefitters, accountants and ministers.”

Losier will be appearing at the Centre for Spiritual Living in Vancouver May 6, and at Whistler Wellness Week May 10. Info: lawofattractionbook.com.

Kathy Sinclair is editor of SharedVISION. She’s not entirely sure about the Law of Attraction, but she does believe in following your bliss.