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Manifestation used to be quiet. Something you did privately, a notebook hidden under a bed, a vision board made with old magazine cutouts. A few hopeful sentences you repeated to yourself, half believing, half cringing. Now it's everywhere, on instagram, on tiktok, on your explore page at 1 am when you’re already questioning life choices. It looked like an intention. Focus. Choosing to believe in something even when it felt uncomfortable. People didn’t wait for signs, they made decisions. Manifestation wasn’t passive, it was personal. Now, positivity has gone viral.

Manifestation shows up everywhere, affirmations on loop, perfectly lit reels promising alignment, captions reminding you to “let go and let the universe handle it.” Vision boards are aesthetic. Belief is content. And somewhere along the way, intention started to replace action.

The strange thing is, manifestation itself isn’t imaginary. Neuroscience suggests that the way we think repeatedly can rewire the brain. Our thoughts influence habits, choices and how we respond to opportunities. Visualizing goals, staying positive and focusing attention can genuinely help people move closer to what they want not because the universe delivers it, but because the mind starts working differently. That part is real.

What’s less helpful is the way manifestation has turned into a kind of surrender. For some, it has become a reason to stop trying altogether. People talk to the universe all day long, waiting for signs, while quietly giving up on themselves. Life happens good or bad and everything is labeled as something they “manifested,” even when no real intention or effort was involved.

At some point, manifestation stops being empowerment and starts looking like avoidance.

Belief without self-belief doesn’t create much. You can repeat affirmations endlessly, but if you don’t believe in your own ability to act, to choose, to take responsibility, nothing really changes. Manifestation isn’t about handing your life over to the universe, it's about believing you’re capable enough to participate in it. That’s the part the trend often skips.

Online, manifestation is packaged as effortless. Say the words. Feel the feeling. Trust the timing. If it works, you’re aligned. If it doesn’t, you doubted. This leaves very little room for effort, failure or the simple truth that some things don’t work out even when you do everything “right.” It also puts a strange pressure on people to stay positive at all times. Doubt becomes a flaw. Frustration feels like resistance. Normal human emotions get reframed as obstacles to success. That’s not neuroscience, that’s emotional bypassing.

And yet, it’s easy to see why people cling to it. We live in uncertain times. The future feels unstable. Systems don’t feel reliable. In moments like this, belief becomes comforting. Positivity feels safer than confronting how little control we sometimes have. Manifestation offers the illusion of certainty in a world that doesn’t offer many guarantees, but then belief was never meant to replace responsibility, right? 

Science doesn’t suggest that thinking positively removes the need for action. It supports it. Rewiring the brain works when intention is paired with effort, consistency and a willingness to show up even when things don’t go your way. Manifestation begins with belief, but it survives on self-trust.

Maybe the most honest question isn’t “Am I manifesting this” but “Do I believe in myself enough to act on it?”

Because the universe can’t do much with intention that never leaves the room. Maybe manifestation was never meant to explain everything that happens to us. Not every win is a reward. Not every loss is a lesson. Sometimes things just happen, and that doesn’t mean we failed to think positively enough.

Intention matters, but so does choice. So does showing up on days when belief is shaky and motivation is low. The quiet work rarely looks aesthetic, but it’s the part that actually moves life forward.

Manifestation isn’t about sitting back and hoping. It’s about choosing, trying, failing and trying again with belief as the fuel, not the substitute.

Positivity works best when it’s grounded in reality…. When it supports effort instead of replacing it, when it helps you believe in yourself instead of fostering the belief that the universe will do the work for you. Maybe that’s what got lost when positivity became a trend (not belief itself) minus the responsibility that was always meant to come with it.

The rush for tickets to K-pop supergroup BTS’ comeback tour has sparked huge demand in Mexico, prompting President Claudia Sheinbaum to appeal to South Korea’s president to add more shows. BTS announced three concerts in Mexico City in May as part of its first world tour in four years.

Reuters reported, tickets sold out in under 40 minutes, with around one million fans competing for 150,000 seats. While official prices ranged from 1,800 to 17,800 pesos, resale platforms listed tickets at sharply inflated rates, leading to complaints over dynamic pricing.

Mexico’s consumer watchdog has sanctioned StubHub and Viagogo for abusive practices. BTS’ global tour will begin in South Korea in April and is expected to be one of the biggest of the year, with revenues projected to exceed $1bn.

Preparations for the celebration of Sonam Lhosar 2862 have reached the final stage. The organization also announced that Prime Minister Sushila Karki is scheduled to attend the event as the chief guest.

The Nepal Tamang Ghedung shared the update during a press conference, stating that arrangements for this year’s Sonam Lhosar, which marks the Year of the Horse (Ta), are nearing completion.

The two-day celebration will take place at Tundikhel on Magh 4 and 5. Ghedung’s Federal President Mohan Gole said preparations are in their final phase, adding that a rally featuring Tamba, Bombo, Lama, and Jhankri will also be organized as part of the celebrations.

Ghedung General Secretary Jagatman Dong said that, as in previous years, the event is being prepared on a grand scale at Tundikhel, with programs planned to honor various individuals. According to the organizers, 101 organizations are involved in coordinating the event.

National Ghedung President Bir Bahadur Yonjan said Sonam Lhosar has been traditionally celebrated at Tundikhel as a cultural festival. The program will also include performances by national artists and a DJ session by DJ Tenzing, the organizers said.

Portraits have a way of looking back at you, and in Whispers of Inner Self, they do so quietly and honestly without asking for permission. In his recent solo exhibition, Suchin Shrestha brings together fragments of emotion, desire and inner reflection gathered over years of making. 

From the beginning Suchin Shrestha has been his own compass. During his residency, the canvas became his mirror, a space to pour every flicker of feeling, every shadow of desire, every restless thought. He moved through the full spectrum of being:  joy, longing,frustration , tenderness, curiosity, solitude, all lived and felt through him, then traced onto the surface. Each painting reflects the self, quietly reckoning with what it means to be human, and gently inviting us to see the fragments of experience we carry but rarely name. For Shrestha colour is never accidental, it carries feeling, memory and story. Some works shine with rays of hope, while others linger in the gentle warmth of togetherness.

During our conversation, he spoke about how the exhibition traces different phases of his life. The bachelor years, when companionship was still an abstract idea, appear in works shaped by inward observation, moments held in solitude, and longing. He described how after marriage the work began to shift. The figures open into a quieter sense of shared existence, reflecting mutual understanding and the unspoken routines that grow between two lives. Shrestha explains that this evolution reflects a gradual shift from introspection toward companionship , from solitary to the reassurance of shared presence. 

He also spoke about how this inward focus begins quite literally in front of a mirror. Standing there, he watches his expressions change, moods rise and fall, thoughts pass across his face. Each nuance, each change became a subject in itself, a spark for what would later appear on canvas. I found it striking that he chose to observe himself, turning in a way we rarely do in the rush of modern life. There is something almost meditative in this self observation, a slowing down, a patience, a willingness to witness fleeting emotions, contradictions, and small, private moments. Through this inward gaze , he does more than capture a likeness or a mood, he captures a living, a shifting interior world, a portrait of the self in constant dialogue with itself. It is in these quiet, introspective moments that his paintings find their resonance, gently reminding us how seldom we truly pause to watch ourselves. 

In a noisy world, the exhibition offers a quiet presence, soft, vulnerable, still, yet brimming with life. Solo shows like these are vital for the Nepali contemporary art sphere, offering artists the space to explore personal narratives and the depths of their inner life. They allow viewers to engage with work that is introspective, layered and deeply human. Whispers of the Inner Self exemplifies how such exhibitions create a dialogue between artist and audience, between the personal and the universal , showing that contemporary art can be as much about reflection and emotional depth as it is about form or spectacle. Visitors can experience the exhibition at Artudio, Patan, until Jan 10, and immerse  themselves in the reflective world of Shrestha’s art.