God Doesn’t Have Bad Hair Days

Building a different energetic imprint

November 3, 2025 32 Comments

“Everything is ecstasy, inside. We just don’t know it because of our thinking-minds.” –Jack Kerouac

Interviewers often ask me, “What changed?” Why did my book, God Doesn’t Have Bad Hair Days, clumsily nosedive into the remainders bin when E-Squared, essentially the same book, hit #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list.

I can name several reasons. I changed the title. I had a different publisher.

But mostly, I attribute it to my energetic imprint, the frequency at which I was vibrating. That sounds pretty woo-woo, but in essence I changed how I saw myself, how I saw the world.

I began saying thank you for everything. For the sky, for the garbage collector who picks up the trash each week, for friends, for the cream puffs my friend’s husband made for our book group, for the chair I’m sitting on. I might have even gone so far as to bow to the chair before gracing it with my backside.

There was no longer a giant wall of resistance.

Oh, and yeah there was this tiny fact that Jack Canfield was kind enough to write a killer endorsement. Which certainly didn’t hurt.

I listened to an interview with Jack the other day. He said something that really hit me. It explained why one book, really the same book, flopped and the other got translated into 40 languages.

People, he said, often set an intention for something, but immediately focus on its opposite. It’s like calling Domino’s Pizza and then calling 5 minutes later to cancel the order and then 30 minutes later wondering why your peperoni pie hasn’t arrived.

There’s static in the frequency. Conflicting wishes erect big orange traffic cones to all the good that wants to come our way.

Or, as I started to notice when I began giving thanks like a crazy woman, that GOOD was already here. So many things I took for granted sprang to life. Including my intention to write bestselling books.

So thank you, Jack. Thank you, readers. Thank you, chair (I know, I already said that) and thank you universe for being such a consistent ally in showing me exactly what to do, where to go and what to say.

#222 Forever!

Pam Grout is the author of 20 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest book, The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World).

Love like crazy

March 4, 2018 59 Comments

“Let go all the trivial things that churn and bubble on the surface of your mind.”—A Course in Miracles

hair days Okay, universe, I get it!

I may be dense, but when I hear something enough times (say like 42), I have no choice but to acknowledge that the bigger thing has come a’knocking. It has an assignment it wants me to take on.

So when my schedule slows down (probably when I’m in Ajijic, Mexico in a couple weeks), I plan to create a book proposal for compiling these daily Course in Miracles lessons into a handy-dandy reference guide. So thank you guys for being so persistent.

And I probably should mention that when I first conceived E-Squared, my bestseller to date, I totally pitched it as a starter kit for understanding the Course. In my proposal, I even mentioned that God had a giant PR problem. That those who claimed to be his minions were not doing him (I prefer the less masculine pronoun “it”) justice.

Because here’s the thing. This unseen energetic force is the biggest badass on the planet. It isn’t limited or finite or a last-minute relief team. Why wouldn’t everyone want to feel this buzz? To use its infinite power? To enjoy its guidance and blessings.

I called the book God Doesn’t Have Bad Hair Days. As you may know, it was published back in 2005 and proceeded to do a ginormous nosedive into oblivion. A few years later, I found a different publisher and reissued it with the new title. Let’s just say that it did okay. #1 New York Times okay!

This new book, that we in this community are creating together, will be a paraphrasing of the ACIM workbook.

For example, Lesson 63 (The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness)is basically saying that when I give up my old story (that’s what forgiveness is), I’ll find nothing but peace and joy. In the meantime, my role here is to be happy and spread molecules of merriment throughout the planet.

Pam Grout is the author of 19 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her new book, Art & Soul,Reloaded: A Year-Long Apprenticeship to Summon the Muses and Ignite Your Daring, Audacious, Creative Side

Can we still hold the Dude to that promise he made in the New Testament?

May 2, 2017 28 Comments

“You carry within your heart a portable paradise.”—Paramahansa Yogananda
calla_lilies_for_easter
A reader asked me the other day why I chose nine experiments instead of 10 for E-Squared and E-Cubed. She wondered if there was some deep spiritual significance. In numerology, nine is the symbol of wisdom and initiation (or mental instability, depending on who you consult), but here’s the real reason I chose nine.

The original book (God Doesn’t Have Bad Hair Days) had ten experiments. But I found readers to be quite resistant to the Lillies of the Field experiment where I asked people to hold the Dude to that guarantee he made in the New Testament. The one where He promised that if we’d just quit worrying, we’d be clothed, fed, and taken better care of than the lilies of the field?

In our culture at least, people don’t have the chutzpah to place all their trust in the care of the universe. They just aren’t willing to “leave their wallets at home” or have the faith that life really does have their back.

In an effort to convince people to try it, I told the story of Paramahansa Yogananda.

When he was 15, he was sent to the Indian city of Brindaban with nary a rupee. He had been yammering to his family about wanting to quit school and devote his life to God. His brother, a stolid accountant, decided to pull a fast one on his pious pipsqueak brother.

“Okay,” he challenged him, “You wanna do God’s work, fine. But let’s forget about your inheritance. If you wanna depend on God, I insist you depend on Him for everything. What do you say we put your vaunted philosophy to a test in the tangible world?”

Ananta, the sermonizing elder brother made this proposal. “I’ll buy you a one-way ticket to Brindaban. It’s where Lord Krishna first displayed his glories, so it’ll be a good place for you to start. You spend the day there. Take no money. No food. You’re not allowed to beg. Yet you can’t go without food or transportation. Furthermore, you’re not allowed to reveal your predicament to anyone. If you return to my bungalow before midnight without breaking any of these rules, I’ll not only give you my blessing, but I’ll become your first initiate.”

Ananta undoubtedly smirked as he sent his penniless brother and a friend off to the strange city they’d never visited, but not before searching both of them for a hidden hoard.

The friend, lacking the young yogi’s faith, was nervous—almost as nervous as you probably are in contemplating this experiment.

“Shouldn’t we take a couple rupees just as a safeguard?” he pleaded. “At least then we’ll have money to telegraph you in case of misfortune. There’s something reassuring about the clink of coins.”

Paramahansa rebuked his friend, refusing to proceed with the test if he took any “safeguard.”

As the train rumbled towards the holy city, the friend started whining. “I’m really getting hungry. Why did you talk me into this?”

Right before the last stop, two men stepped into their compartment, began joking with the young boys. When the train pulled to a stop, the two men linked arms with the boys and led them into a horse cab.

Well, long story short, they ended up at an ashram, taking the place of two princes who, at the last minute, had to cancel their lunch plans. Not only were they served a 30-course meal, while being fanned by a hostess, but they visited Madanamohana Temple and other Krishna shrines, were given train tickets back to Agra, and fed the finest of Indian sweetmeats for dinner.

Was Ananta ever surprised when, at a few minutes before midnight, the young yogi walks into his home with piles of rupee notes and bursting with stories. His brother, as promised, insisted on receiving spiritual initiation that very evening.

Two quick announcements. The kindle version of Thank & Grow Rich is on sale for $1.99 for just two more days. And there’s still time to enroll for the 5th annual Hay House World Summit (it’s completely free) and features hundreds of authors and speakers talking about really enlightening things. You can sign up here. Hope you’ll join us.

And as always, my friends, thanks for your continuing love and support.

Pam Grout is the author of 18 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the recently released, Thank and Grow Rich: a 30-day Experiment in Shameless Gratitude and Unabashed Joy.

Let the universe do the heavy lifting, 2.0

June 24, 2013 46 Comments

“I don’t have to be perfect. I just have to show up and enjoy the messy, imperfect and beautiful journey of my life.”– Kerry Washington

It happened again—three emails in a few short days from folks who are wondering what to do if they don’t immediately get their blessing from Experiment One. So I want to share this story.

I wrote E-Squared 9 years ago. It was originally called God Doesn’t Have Bad Hair Days and I loved it with all my heart. I affirmed that it would be a bestseller. I made the intention that Oprah would snatch it up and invite me on her show.

Instead, it did a monster-sized belly flop into the great sea of literary has-beens. It quickly went out of print, one of only two of my 16 books to ever do so.

In fact, my editor (of that book) said, “I just don’t understand it. This book is just like The Secret.”

Yes, my book debuted at the exact same time as the movie, The Secret, a whole year before the book, The Secret, came out.

So here’s what I did? I let it go. I waved the white flag and began focusing on other stuff. I wrote three travel books for National Geographic. I wrote this really cool TV series about an ecovillage. I did everything I could think of to keep open the channels of joy and abundance.

Now I’m not suggesting that I never crashed or walked through a few valleys, or ever bought into the recession and the continual bad news about my chosen career. I even wrote a piece about it for Huffington Post that you can read here.

But instead of pitching a tent in the land of “poor me,” I kept believing. I kept recognizing that it was only me that could block the world’s largesse. It was only me who could build walls to keep my good away.

My only job, the way I see it, is to enjoy every moment of my imperfect, messy, beautiful life.

And guess what? The book was polished up a bit and came out this year as E-Squared. And all those things I affirmed earlier. They’re coming to fruition, just like I envisioned them.

So I will repeat here, what I wrote last time I got the question: “What if I make an intention and it doesn’t happen?”

First and foremost, DO NOT BEAT YOURSELF UP! Do not ask yourself, “What am I doing wrong?” Do not make the erroneous conclusion that the universe does not have your back.

In fact, the very best tact when you’re unable to find your intention is to say, “THANK YOU!!!” “Thank you for showing me that I still have..…oh, maybe just a tad bit of resistance.”

And then go out and do something really fun, something that makes you sing with joy. If you can’t think of even one thing that makes you smile, that’s a sure sign your channels of love and joy are not as open as they could be. Again, no biggie. Feel free to borrow one of the many things I do when I notice my channels are blocked with twigs of negativity and self-doubt:

** Dance around the house. Put on some lively music and go for it.

** Get a stack of dollar bills and go out and give them away. I know a guy who uses hundys, but I’m still more comfortable using ones.

** Sing a happy song as loud as you possibly can.

Your only job (and that word probably demonstrates part of the problem) is to go out and get happy.

When you’re happy, life works. In fact, number one on my hit parade of intentions is something I borrowed from Yogi Bhajan: “To make myself so happy that others get happy just looking at me.”

When manifesting, you’ve undoubtedly heard that “How is not up to you.” These days, I’m not even so sure “What” is the best strategy. I prefer to focus on “Why?”

Why do I want money? So I can have an amazingly awesome time.

Why do I want to write books and blog posts? So I can use my God-given gifts.

Why do I want a meaningful, expanding relationship? So I can be a more loving person.

That’s what all of us really want—to have an amazingly awesome time, to use our gifts, to be loving human beans. And I’ve discovered that when I start “being” those things, the “whats” flow like a hawk in a tail wind.

The universe wants to give us every good thing. It is only our resistance that stops it from stampeding towards us like a herd of wild mustangs.

Pam Grout is the author of 16 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality.