on being a human design manifesting generator
the boundless energy, the curiosity and what it's like to wholly embrace and accept yourself
Hey you,
Today I’m continuing with my ‘Human Design Types’ interview series, talking to the lovely
about what it’s like to be a Manifesting Generator type.It was so uplifting talking to Cassandra for this interview and learning more about her… she’s based on Vancouver Island working as a VA as well as being a self-confessed book geek (aren’t we all??) and writing brilliant book reviews over on Instagram. We met here on Substack, where she writes a new publication Notes from a Kindred Spiritexploring her curiosity for hobbies, what it means to live with a chronic illness and finding contentment. I could just tell from our call, and her energy, that Cassandra’s Substack is going to grow into a thriving space!
Do watch the whole video to experience Cassandra’s gorgeous energy!
Today we’re talking all about the Manifesting Generator Type, also known as MG’s, ManGen’s or ManiGens:
MG’s make up around 35% of the population and are essentially a Generator type, with one of their motors connected directly to the throat centre (which Generators don’t have). MG’s are multi-passionate and non-linear, designed for lots of trial and error, figuring things out, moving fast and showing the rest of us the way. Like the Generator Type, the MG has a defined sacral motor which says yes or no, and the strategy of an MG is to be ‘in response’ (waiting for external clues to respond to) and when they’re in alignment, the MG has a lot of vibrant energy!
Here’s what we talked about…
✨ how long have you been in your experiment / known you’re a manifesting generator? Did it resonate right away?
I discovered HD in 2020 when I started editing podcasts… the coach I was working for was interviewing a Human Design expert, it inspired me to look up my profile. The chart is overwhelming at first, but I gleaned I was an MG, and I read a summary of what that meant and it resonated. Over the last couple of years I’ve been learning more about my design and specifics, being able to understand myself better. I actually discovered too that my ‘environment’ is Shores1 and now that I live on Vancouver Island this makes so much sense, I always wanted to live on the shore so this move was a perfect decision.
✨ MG’s are here to work & build, like Generators, but also to move fast, test things out, bring a trial and error energy, in order to show the rest of us the way to do things, do you feel that?
Yeah, the moving fast part, if something sparks my curiosity, I will dive right in and get excited! Over the holidays I injured my ankle and couldn’t do a lot, which was hard for me, and I’d been intrigued by Substack so I actually did a huge deep dive into it, because I want to move right now! That definitely shows up for me a lot. And the trial and error, that was most of my 20’s… I went to uni thinking I’d study one path, and then took a break, tried another university and then tried freelance writing and photography, so many things I dipped into to try!
✨ what do you love about being an MG? How does it serve you?
Honestly, the best thing is it’s helped me to understand and accept myself. I struggled in my 20s to figure myself out… now I feel like “ok, some of these things make sense, I can understand myself and how I work, this helps with self-acceptance, and how I operate. I enjoy the doing part, trying new things, I’m always curious to explore new hobbies, and I like variation, and that’s part of what I like in my VA work too, I thrive off that. I embrace that… it’s taken me some time to embrace some aspects of my design. So, in my 20’s I was trying to decide on one-thing, that’s what we’re supposed to know what we want to do and have a career path that you’re on forever. So I didn’t understand, “why don’t I just stick with something?”, there was frustration, and I was hard on myself about that too. Now I accept, this is who I am, I dip in and out of things and that’s ok.
✨ MG’s have a big energy that is here to try lots of things, so are often told as they grow up to “be less” and “choose one thing & stick at it”… but we need you to be you!
Yeah, spot on, and it’s been a journey get to that place and get that permission and be myself and learning to ignore when people push back, it’s ok to be me and operate the way I do.
With the energy, that’s been an interesting thing. My husband doesn’t have the amount of energy I have, he’s not an MG, so I’ve had to adjust my expectations of how much energy he has, he’s not going to keep ups with me and that’s ok, but because he’s not an MG, he’s a good anchor for me and reminder, there are times I need to take a break and I’m not good at recognising that. He’s a good reminder that “you’ve been working all day, you need to take a break”
[MG’s need this person in their lives to remind them to stop! If you’re an MG, give someone permission to remind you when to stop…]
✨ are there any challenges for you in being an MG?
Having boundless energy and not being able to check myself to slow down, that’s a learning process and I am better than I used to be. Accepting people around me don’t have the same energy I do, and setting my expectations. I’ve learned to use up my energy in a satisfying way so I can sleep better. The key is satisfying2 so I really need to tune into this, where am I feeling satisfied / not during the day. I've come a long way, but I wish I would have known these things before! My open head3 was also bringing me so many ideas, there was so much information online about how to be a million different things, which I found challenging in my 20’s, feeling lost and not understanding why I couldn’t just figure it out.
✨ Cassandra, I check in with you before we pressed record if it was ok to ask this question, which is about your energy…. you’ve got a lot of defined centres including all four energy centres, and as you share openly on your Substack
, you live with a chronic illness which typically brings a lack of energy… so can you talk about how your design might have actually supported you?Of course, I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 6.5 months old, and it’s interesting to look back now and see how my energy centres supported me as I’ve been hospitalised and through surgeries. With any chronic illness there can be a lot of dips in energy and your body has the final say in this, so energy can be depleted quicker than the typical healthy person. I can look back at times I had quite a lot of energy even with an infection. I was also very stubborn or will-full… I kept up with my school work because I was determined not to get behind at school. When I was in 6th grade we were putting on a play and I had a major role, but I ended up in hospital with an infection - I talked my doctor into letting me go to the play with my IV and remembered all my lines - I don’t think I’d have been on stage during a hospitalisation without those energy banks, I probably would have been staying in bed. Even as an adult if I need to be in hospital I’m always doing something, learning or researching. I always just had a certainty, a knowing, about what I could do, and push back when people were trying to stop me. My chronic energy would have taken a larger toll if I’d not had the energy centres. The hard part is convincing others. In my 20’s I had a double lung transplant, and before the transplant I was on oxygen, and I had tickets with friends to see Taylor Swift. My mum was concerned but I knew I could do it, there was that knowing…
✨ and is there anything else you want to share as we wrap up?
Obviously I recommend everyone look up your design, because you’ll learn a lot about yourself and it can be incredibly helpful. For me, learning to understand and accept myself has been invaluable. My philosophopy is take what works and leave the rest - for me this works. So yes I recommend people reach out to you! [aww, thanks Cassandra!]
Wow! Thank you Cassandra, for such a beautiful interview.
I’ll be back soon with more interviews to share what it really means to be living your design, sharing more about some of the things I’ve talked briefly about in the videos - please do get in touch if you’ve any questions, or you’d like to be in a post like this - which also goes on the podcast!
With love
Sarah xx
Would you like permission to be YOU?
Human Design is a blend of modern science and ancient wisdom, and the ultimate profiling tool, giving us full permission to be ourselves. It’s like a user manual for each of us, showing us how to be who we’re designed to be, how to work with our energy and how to make great decisions that are just right for each of us. We can find our purpose, our ideal environment & our superpowers on this map. And we can journey through it to heal ourselves, our relationships & our work.
Start by downloading your free chart here or dive in by booking a chart reading with me here where I share the fundamentals of your design AND how to integrate them so you can live more in alignment every day.
Here’s a quick reminder of the 5 types:
Manifestors - about 10% of people - here to initiate and inspire
Generators - c 35% - here to create, build and do what lights them up
Manifesting Generators - c35% - here to move fast, try things out and and show the way
Projectors - c20% - here to guide others to their highest potential
Reflectors - c1% - here to reflect the possibility in the world and others
Each type has their particular purpose on the planet👆… what often happens as we grow up is that we’re conditioned (taught) to be something other than the way we’re designed, so that our energy is out of whack, we don’t make the right decisions for us, and we don’t lean into our superpowers…
So, when I’m unpacking a chart, we start out by looking at ‘type’, and this the first place I get to tell clients “here’s how to be YOU, and yes it’s ok, you really get to be like this!”
After that, we start to get into the nuance because, you’ll already guess, we don’t all fit neatly into one of five little boxes… but it’s a great starting point for the conversation.
Environment is where your body is healthiest; Shores is a liminal space, somewhere that two kinds of place meet, so for example sea/land, forest/fields, city/countryside.
Satisfaction is the ‘self-theme’ of an MG (and the Generator too) which tells you when you’re in alignment. Frustration is the not-self theme, a sign you need to re-align.
An open head centre means you’ll be taking in inspiration from everywhere and might feel like it’s all right for you to follow. Your authority helps you know which sparks of inspo to follow and which are just distractions.
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