A Memory from 1991: I Asked the Universe for $200… and Found It in the Street 10 Minutes Later

A memory of the Chanin Building, East 42nd Street, and the moment I stopped doubting manifestation.

In the early 1990s, I was working temp jobs in Midtown Manhattan between show business gigs. Around that time, I had fallen in “deep like” with someone who worked in the Chanin Building at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, one of those grand old Art Deco New York buildings from the same era as the Chrysler Building nearby.

We would meet for lunch sometimes.

It was also the height of the AIDS crisis, and many of us were searching for faith, survival, spiritual grounding, anything that helped us make sense of such an overwhelming time. Around then, I had started reading Florence Scovel Shinn’s The Game of Life and How to Play It and exploring ideas about manifestation and the power of belief.

One particular afternoon, I left the Chanin Building knowing I had rehearsal that evening for an upcoming nightclub performance. I needed $200 to pay the musicians.

I didn’t have it.

One of the musicians was a longtime friend, which made the pressure even worse. I didn’t want to embarrass myself or disrespect the musicians by having them show up and not get paid.

So somewhere between prayer, desperation, and belief, I decided I was going to manifest the money.

I remember walking out of the Chanin Building, crossing Park Avenue, and saying to myself that somehow the universe was going to provide the exact $200 I needed.

This is the part where people think I’m making things up.

In the middle of the street, I saw a small white envelope.

I picked it up.

Inside were two crisp one-hundred-dollar bills.

Exactly $200.

I just stood there staring at the envelope in disbelief.

The truth is, I already believed in manifestation. But that day felt like confirmation. Without question. Without doubt.

I paid the musicians that night.

And as for my Chanin Building lover, as it turned out, I was just the other man.

Eventually, I wrote a song about it.

“By Myself”
from the album Soulriginals
Available on all streaming platforms.

Watch the lyric video here: “By Myself” by Lee Summers