“Manifest”- a Verb? a Noun? an Adjective?

It’s Ann here today. Andy is in OurLittleCorner fretting about his e-bike.

Do you ever feel like someone is standing over your shoulder directing you how to do something? Someone who is actually not present…except in your mind?

I always make a lot of jam in the summer when my favorite fruits (think apricots, nectarines, peaches, and plums) are at their delicious best, and every time I make a batch of jam, my mother enters the kitchen and is with me. Mind you, my mother passed away years ago, so this is only a manifestation of my mother. As I cook the fruit, I can hear my mother telling me to be sure to skim the foam off while the jam simmers, to watch for the color of the bubbling liquid to change in appearance (I’m still trying to master that one), and finally to gather a little liquid in a stainless steel tablespoon and hold it up high over the pot and watch for two simultaneous drips to come down, indicating the jam has thickened enough and should be removed from the flame. Every single time and every single year I do this my mom is peering over my shoulder, overseeing this process.

“Manifest” was Cambridge Dictionary‘s 2024 Word of the Year, mostly because the word – used as a verb – has taken on new meaning. Celebs and others (including our daughter) are using “manifest” to mean “imagining something into reality.” Manifest as a noun meaning a “list of goods carried on a plane or ship” is so yesterday!

Before hearing our daughter talk about “manifesting” good things, my only thought about “manifest” was the phrase “manifest destiny” where “manifest” is an adjective describing something that is obvious or self-evident. History.com describes it this way: Manifest Destiny, coined sometime before 1820, is the idea that the United States is destined—by God, its advocates believed—to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent.  (An aside: coincidentally, one of our favorite political analysts, Heather Cox Richardson, just wrote a piece on this same topic and mentions the same piece of art.)

In our current favorite TV series, the star of the 2015 production must have been foresightful because he uses the term “manifest” often – but as a noun, rather than a verb. His “manifests” are both good and evil people who come back from death to visit with him during various times of his life. And they are definitely not the same as ghosts, he asserts. The British crime series is River and the star is the talented Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard. Our favorite character may be Stevie, played by Nicola Walker, whose role is…well, watch the series and you’ll find out! Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 100% rating from critics.

When I worked on today’s recipe I manifested (verb) the perfectly -flavored fresh apricots combined with a perfectly-delicious fresh pineapple in order to try to replicate my mother’s perfect Apricot Pineapple Jam. I enjoyed my mother’s presence, her manifest (noun), though I ignored her firm instructions to use canned Dole Crushed Pineapple. And my joy when I succeeded in this jam-making endeavor was manifest (adjective).