Karma

Life Lessons

Karma is something that happens because you did some other thing.

It can be good: earning the love of a dog you rescued.

It can be bad: teaching a coworker all your work-avoiding tricks and six months later, they become your boss.

Good or Bad. Pleasant or Not. Karma is an unrelenting agent of justice.

Do you believe in karma? Sandy does.

She didn’t meditate on this idea.

She didn’t study under a master yogi.

Sandy is an experiential learner. When life kicks her butt, she listens.

I mean, she learns by experiencing.

Karma Lesson # 1

Suzanne's View

I have a bookshelf. Okay I have multiple bookshelves.

At our library’s used book sale (in the days before Covid-19), I bought the Alphabet Series by Sue Grafton. The books were nearly new. But they had been read and handled and apparently one of them had a good smell.

Sandy decided it smelled good enough to chew. Something she had never done before. She didn’t destroy it, but my nearly new book was scarred. I was not happy. We had a chat about my displeasure.

Despite that, a few days later she was back at the shelf, sniffing that same book. I was about to issue a stern “no!” when karma stepped in.

Sandy was intent, wholly focused on the aroma of that book. BAM!

The whole stack slide and fell with a loud crash. Sandy skittered away from the shelf and hide behind me.

Books do not like to be chewed

and

karma believes books deserve respect.

Sandy learned from this life lesson.

She will occasionally sniff an interesting book. But she approaches with caution and does not get any closer than absolutely necessary. Chewing is out of the question – so far at least.

(By the way - I replaced the chewed book. Helping Sandy avoid temptation and restoring the aesthetic of the bookshelf. )

Karma Lesson # 2

Sandy’s view

I am a beagle. I like smells. But I am smart. I know that not all smells should be eaten. Some are for rolling in.

But my human is an agent of karma – at least that is what she tells me. When I am about to roll in something, Suzanne says “Don’t do it. You’ll get a bath.”

But we are outside and there is no bath there, so I ignore her and roll in it anyway. “Bad karma Sandy,” she says. “You’re in trouble.”

She is grumpy because she lost the argument.

Then we get home.

It turns out Suzanne is both serious about enforcing karma and patient about exacting revenge. I get a bath.

The next time I want to roll in something, I will remember this. It probably won’t stop me though.