There are times in life when we find ourselves facing problems that seem so hopelessly unsolvable or being trapped in difficult situations and it’s impossible for us to see any end to the situation. Neither can those close to us see any way we can come out of it unbroken and whole.

Sometimes these moments comprise a seemingly endless series of days, weeks, months or even years of waiting. Waiting for something to change, to break. The waiting seems endless, pointless and hopeless. And we feel we have no other choice but to give up.

It is in moments like these that the Universe calls to us to call out to it for help. We can call out to the Universe through a simple letter. And in a way we can never fathom or explain, the Universe answers.

I encountered this technique of writing to the Universe in the works of Melody Fletcher as well as Henriette Klauser. I have seen and experienced first-hand in my own life and in the lives of others how powerful this technique can be.

We can call out to the Universe through a simple letter. And in a way we can never fathom or explain, the Universe answers.

Nadia’s story

Nadia left home in Valencia, Spain for Australia in 2013. She left Spain because the country was in the midst of a recession and professionals like her could not get work for long stretches of time, sometimes years. Nadia had graduated with an honors bachelors’ degree in psychology and also completed a specialization in cognitive psychotherapy. She held dual registrations as a psychologist and psychotherapist in Spain.

She came to Australia by herself, believing that she would be able to find work in her field. She was convinced that someone with her qualifications and experience would certainly, and quickly find work. What followed next was years of waiting.

Until you actually go through an extended period of unemployment, there is no way you can adequately understand or imagine the feelings of pain, hopelessness and despair that someone who has been jobless for a long time feels. Weeks and months of job hunting, sending hundreds of resumes, getting the sporadic phone call from a remotely interested employer, followed by the extremely rare job interview, all end with the loud thud of the letter of rejection.

From November 2013 until November 2018, Nadia didn’t get a single job in her field.

She wasn’t totally jobless — she worked casually as a waitress for a year, then part-time as a Spanish language teacher. But working odd jobs and being utterly unable to find a job even remotely connected to her fields of expertise, while seeing friends gainfully employed in their fields and people around her easily getting full time work, were almost as painful as being totally unemployed.

She was in a bind. Her qualification as a psychologist in Spain could not be recognized in Australia until she completed a two-year Master’s Degree in Psychology from a local university or was accepted into an internship program of similar duration. Either way, she needed to take an English language test and get extremely high scores.

There are times we desperately need to get something and we are told we have to do this or do that so we can get what we want. We react and try to do everything that we are told to do, only to find that in the end we can’t get what we want after all.

Nadia applied to psychology programs in a couple of universities but was immediately rejected; places were very limited and competition was extremely fierce, she was told. She took an English language test, needing to score at least an 8 over-all. She scored a dismal 5. There was no hope for her to ever reach the required score, not unless there was a computer somewhere that she could plug her brain to, à la Neo in the Matrix, which would instantly upload the entire English language into her brain, and make her cry “Whoa, I know English!”

She gave up trying to be a psychologist in Australia.

She was told several times during interviews that she was not hired because she didn’t have local knowledge and experience. Having given up on psychology, she did the next best thing, which was to go back to school to study counselling. She took on a sizable student loan, and trudged through almost 2 years of graduate school. She gained some local experience when she did a voluntary and unpaid internship at a small hospital that specialized in mental health. She completed her degree and was awarded accreditation at the highest counselling level. She continued applying for jobs, but this time in counselling. After all that she had done and been through, she believed that surely her dream job would now come quickly. She was wrong.

Then there was the matter of money.

From her job as a waitress and her intermittent work as a Spanish language teacher, she never earned more than $5,000 in a year. She survived only through the financial support of her parents.

She continued applying for jobs, writing long applications and sending her resumes. The rejections kept coming. It seemed clear, after all those rejections, that the job market for counsellors seemed pretty closed to her. No one seemed interested in the least to hire a bi-lingual Spanish-English speaking, newly-graduated counsellor, who possessed zero paid counselling experience in Australia.

For Nadia, being unable to find work in her field for years was like entering a dark tunnel. She entered it as soon as she arrived in Australia; she did not enter by her own choice and she was unaware of just how dark or long the tunnel was. She entered, hoping that the tunnel wouldn’t be that dark, and believing that surely there would be sporadic rays of light to illuminate her path. She walked in, optimistic that while it may be dark, the tunnel wouldn’t be that long. Surely it would not take her long to reach the other side?

For Nadia, being unable to find work in her field for years was like entering a dark tunnel

Then the tunnel grew darker and darker still; she kept walking yet the tunnel seemed to stretch endlessly. Many times, she felt like she was walking in circles or going backwards even. Days turned into weeks, weeks lengthened into months, and months stretched into years.

In early 2018, Nadia had almost reached breaking point. She left Spain for Australia in search of a better, happier, more secure future. But after five years of fruitless job-searching, her prospects looked so bleak that she often wondered whether it was best to just pack everything up and go back to Spain.

Writing to the Universe

I taught Nadia this powerful writing technique after I had used it myself with amazing results. She had always been skeptical of anything that sounded supernatural or spiritual. Yet she was left with very few choices. She was willing to try anything, desperate to put her faith in something.

In April 2018, after yet another job rejection, Nadia wrote a hand-written letter, on yellow legal pad, addressed to the Universe. Nothing in her experience told her or even suggested to her that doing something as crazy as writing a letter to an unseen entity or force would work. And yet, she wrote.

“Dear Universe…”

In a two-and-a-half page letter, written in plain, simple English, she described the problem to the Universe, adding exactly how she felt at that moment. She wrote from her heart and did not sugar-coat anything. Apart from my minor grammatical corrections, I have quoted the following passages from her letter verbatim.

“I am really worried about my situation that is at 37 years old I still don’t have a fulfilled job as a counsellor/psychologist. I left my family and friends 5 years ago because I wanted to find my way, a job that would give me money, satisfactions, success. I feel stressed, frustrated because of this and because I want to be able to use my skills, education and years of sacrifice like all.”

She did not try to be cheerful or positive; instead, she wrote down all her fears on paper. She left nothing unwritten.

“I am worried because I don’t have money in my account and every time I look at it I feel bad because it’s empty. I am scared that if one day I need money for any emergency that comes out I can’t pay for it. I am frustrated because I want to contribute more with the home expenses (ex. rent, food, bills, home loan). I feel sad because I can’t send money to support my mother that now she is alone…I am afraid of my lack of money/job, this makes me nervous and stressed and I don’t want to be like this.”

Then she told the Universe exactly what she wanted. As she did when she listed down her fears, this time, she did not hold back. She stated exactly what she wanted and asked the Universe to give it.

“I want to work in a medical center beside other professionals like me that gives me a salary of $80,000 per year. Where I am appreciated by my co-workers, my boss, colleagues and clients. Where I can bring out all my skills, qualifications and experiences.”

It’s interesting that she wrote such a specific figure — $80,000 — as her desired annual salary.

The fact that this figure was 27 times more than what she ever earned working in any job in Australia was not lost on her.

Yet, this is what she wanted and it was what she asked for.

She described in detail the kind of working environment she wanted to be in, injecting as much honest feelings in her words as she could.

“A place where I can work and be loved by every one, I can be distinguished, recognized and well-known in Sydney and Australia.”

She included even the little things in her request.

“I want to have a bonus laptop, my personal room with my name near the door, saying ‘Counsellor and Psychotherapist’.”

After writing her short letter, she thanked the Universe and described how she now felt after writing. She also wrote as if the things she had asked for were now hers.

“Thank you so much for fulfilling my desire. Thank you Universe for this wonderful job that you gave to me. My partner, my mother, my dad and family are all proud of me. I feel better now looking at my account increasing every two weeks because of my income. I feel relieved now. I can finally contribute with the expenses to the family and buy anything I want without thinking twice before I do it. Thank you Universe for my success and fulfillment and satisfactions. I really appreciate it that you listened to my words and prayer. I feel light and relieved.”

She folded the letter, put it in an envelope, sealed it and wrote “To the Universe” outside it. She put in a special box and tucked it away in a corner of the top shelf of her wardrobe.

She did her best to forget about the letter, and in time, she eventually forgot that it was even there.

The Universe responds

In the next few months after she wrote the letter, Nadia stopped applying for jobs all together. Not because she had given up looking for her job, but she had reached the point where she knew that doing more of what she had already been doing in the last few years would not help.

Instead, she totally removed her focus from her unemployment and busied herself with other things and pursuing other activities she really enjoyed doing, like knitting and doing yoga. She also continued doing her best in the other casual jobs that came her way.

At first nothing happened. Nothing seemed to happen.

Then things began developing, slowly at first, but quickly progressing in a way that she never could have expected. In October, she received a call from a recruiter about a role that he thought Nadia would be perfect for. The recruiter sounded genuinely enthusiastic, something that was uncommon in Nadia’s experience.

His client, a non-profit organization that served the Spanish-Australian community in Sydney, was looking for a Gambling Help Support Officer. The role required a registered counsellor with experience in counselling people dealing with gambling and other addictions, and who was fluent in Spanish and English.

He said, going quickly to the point, that Nadia would be perfect for the role.

Right after the call, Nadia realized that she had already applied for a job to this organization and interviewed with them several years ago. At that time, they were looking for an Australian psychologist, which she was not. When she interviewed with them originally, they were looking for someone fluent in both English and Spanish and her English level was not good back then.

She doubted whether things had changed enough that she would be successful this time in getting into the same organization that had rejected her four years ago.

She remembered her letter to the Universe and decided to give it one more shot.

From there, things escalated. A series of interviews followed, including the ultimate interview with the general manager of the organization, the human resources manager and resident psychologist. Nadia received a lot of support from the recruiter himself, who coached her on the possible questions she might get asked, as well as another friend who had also worked for that organization as a counsellor.

During her last interview with the organization four years ago, she lacked confidence, and was nervous and anxious. This was picked up by the interviewers right away. This time, after years of preparation and waiting for this time to come, she carried an easy confidence and assurance, which was palpable throughout her interview. The interviewers congratulated her on how well she spoke English.

Almost one week after the interview, the recruiter called her to give her the good news that she was successful in getting the job.

Nadia received her contract by email and post a few days later. When she read the contract, she happily confirmed that practically all of the things she had asked from the Universe in her letter — from the duties required, the working conditions, and the benefits — had been granted. The organization would pay for her to buy a car or a laptop. And the salary?

It was $81,000 per year.

The steps

One: “Dear Universe…”

Two: “Here’s my problem / situation…”

Three: “I am afraid that…”

Four: “Here’s what I want…”

Five: “Thank you for coming through for me.”

Six: “Now I let it go, become still and wait.”

Try it yourself. Write your letter now. Take your time. Once you’ve written the letter, let it go. Relax.

UPDATE! Dear Universe comes through again! Sujan, a former student and now a fellow lawyer, struggled massively last year to get a job in a Sydney law firm. He had just recently graduated from law school and become a lawyer. He had sent hundreds of resumes to law firms but never got anywhere. Sujan was finding it seemingly impossible to breakthrough the closed doors of Sydney firms. People told him the market was flooded with new lawyers from the big law schools with local experience (Sujan came from a small law school and had zero local legal experience) and it would be so difficult for him to even get an interview that he might as well look for another non-lawyer job. After being turned down for the nth time, Sujan was desperate. He has a wife and child to support and was working in a dead-end non-legal job just to pay the bills. He talked to me in December 2020 about his big problem. I asked him to read WriteTech, particularly Chapter 7 Nadia’s story, and to write his own letter to the universe.

Sujan wrote his letter to the universe in December 2020. In January 2021, out of nowwhere, he was called for an interview with “B Legal”, a  prominent and prestigious law firm with offices all over Australia. He was hired as a lawyer in the firm and started soon after. Here’s the testimonial that Sujan wrote after this amazing experience (you can read it too in Goodreads):

Definitely a fantastic read! Jonathan has been so succint yet detailed in explaining the power of writing and that too in making things happen for us the way we want them to and make our dreams into reality. Couple of months ago, I tried writetech for myself and was able to land me a professional job that I was longing for. Many thanks for putting all those secret ideas together for us, Jonathan!

It’s amazing when the universe responds so grandly even to a tiny call for help that we make in times of need.

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To access the techniques of WriteTech and other resources for free, go to writetech.co/#free-resources

Do you have a story to share of how writing has helped you or a friend achieve an ambitious goal or solve a difficult problem? If you’d like to share your story with others to inspire them, send it to Jonathan@writetech.co