What Goes Around Comes Around

Karma...what is it? Well, the all knowing Wikipedia defines it as... 


Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म IPA: [ˈkərmə] Pali: kamma) in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect (i.e., the cycle called saṃsāra) originating in ancient India and treated in the Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh religions.[2].


Simply, karma refers to the process of cause and effect. Action causes reaction. Whatever you do, something will happen.

I've decided to launch a personal Karma Project to encourage myself to practice more good deeds and fewer bad ones, all the while keeping track of how it affected my mood and life in general. Here's a recap of week one of the Karma Project.

Trying to be kind to bugs in a world where people take great pleasure in being unkind to bugs? Not easy. Even my co-worker seems to be bent on preventing me from practicing bad acts of karma as far as bugs are concerned. Friday was beautiful and we decided to eat lunch outside. We were eating outside and a fly was moseying around on the table. Co-worker said, “Janet, kill it! Kill it!” Without a second thought, I raised my hand in preparation of smacking the life out of the thing. And it was one of those rare slow-moving flies, too. I could have flattened it in an instant, and the flattening would have felt oh so satisfying. I’m sure of it. But then I remembered my project. I lowered my hand and said, “We’re outside. This is where flies live. He has a right to be here.” She said looked at me funny and continued to eat her lunch. I shooed him away. 

Last night, I noticed some strange gunk on a frame while I was dusting. It's a cool wooden frame with a feel good message on it and I look at it whenever I'm feeling down. “What is that crap?” I wondered. I looked up. In the corner of the ceiling, just above the picture, I saw a humongous spider web.  The blacks specs? Spider poop. I think. And yes, I checked...spiders do in fact poo. I stared at that spider web for a while, mulling over the concept of Karma and wondering just how much the act of sucking a spider’s house into a vacuum cleaner would sully my karmic future. I stood that thinking for a few moments looking up at the spider web and then...I pulled out the vacuum. Sorry little spider. 

Estimated Good Karma Points: 1 (not killing a fly) + 1 (opening a door for a mom carrying a baby) + 1 (smiling at a stranger) + 1 (complimenting someone who really deserved it) + 1 (answering an annoying email with dignity and grace) + 1 

Estimated Bad Karma Points: 5 (removing spider house) + 1 (yelling at car in front of me for driving so slow) + 1 (lying to someone about how I really felt) + 1 

Karma Happens Wall Art by Jay Hell via Etsy