Karma

Greetings all,

I read on some forum someone asking if you believe in karma. The responses were typical - showing that many people don't even know what the concept is and merely stating that it's about 'what goes around, comes around'.

What the hell does that even mean? I just find people don't get the concept of karma and it's a vast concept. Steiner did over 8 volumes on that topic alone! And it's also a major tenet in some religions such as Buddhism. Why people gloss over it and fail to give the proper respect that it deserves is beyond my comprehension!

First of all, it doesn't matter whether you believe in karma or not. Based on my understanding of the world, there are certain 'rules' and karma is about 'cause and effect'. We all have certain thought and behaviour patterns that we get into the routine of. Eventually these things 'bear fruit' and we may not see the consequences of our thoughts and actions, potentially not even in this lifetime.

It has nothing to do with 'what goes around comes around'. You have the free will to do whatever the hell you want but if you go around screwing and hurting people, people will not like you or help you out. It's about living with the consequences of our actions. A mentality like that can only get you so far.

I find though that people use the word karma as a form of being self righteous towards someone. Usually if that someone is doing something hurtful - usually to them. I think it is inappropriate to have that mentality - that of delighting that someone will suffer because they hurt you - because it just fosters hatred and negativity. The whole point of life is to develop compassion and love and getting off on someone's ignorance is a sign of egoism. We all have egoism but the point is to purify ourselves.

This is where the concept of changing your karma comes into play. I learned through my mantra meditation practice that you can use things like mantra to create change and help ease difficulties. I am sure there are other techniques out as well to help deal with the blockages we ignorantly create in our lives and in past lives. I still believe in free will and we can chose if we want to change our life or not, we can chose to let go of pain and be more compassionate and peaceful. When we do that, we do change our karma and possibly open the gate for positive karma.

The whole reason for having compassion for someone is mainly because we create things and problems out of ignorance. It's like an employee new on the job and who is making mistakes. The person could be making all these mistakes out of ignorance because they weren't properly trained. Is it fair to be judgmental and harsh towards them?

I would like to learn more about Karma from an Anthroposophical perspective because I think there is so much to learn about this concept and I feel I have only scratched the surface. Steiner has some interesting examples where he talks about how karma plays out in personalities over several lifetimes and those were interesting to read and gave karma a more practical approach.

Falling Apart

Greetings all,

I am still actively looking for work and had an interview yesterday, although I do not think I was interested in the company because I couldn't understand the interviewer, who would be the future boss.

I am watching my life spiral out of control. I am doing my best but it's not good enough. I can't even seem to have luck with employment agencies because there is so much competition.

I would like to say that I'm losing my mind but I'm past that point already.

I've lost my mind and am having a hard time staying optimistic. My employment insurance is done and now all I have is my savings, which I had to buy a condo or house.

All of my dreams and hopes are going down the sink.

I'm digging deep but I keep coming up short. I've had enough and all I can say is I hope things work out. I just can't go on living and feeling this way.

I have no one to turn to. My friends can't help me find a job or figure out what direction is best to go. It's either sink or swim and it's all up to me.

Words of encouragement will have little meaning.

Everyone else is moving forward. Having babies. Getting married. Going to school.

I am just stuck and wanting to move forward.

Name Change

Greetings all,

I think I have decided to start spelling my name Pahla. I have not legally changed it to that but will be doing so because I have seen several people with different ways of spelling their name and thought that I might as well.

Purse Snatching

Greetings all,

I experienced my first purse snatching yesterday afternoon. I was not impressed. I was on my way to the bank as I just finished job searching at the library. I like to go to the library to get out of the house and use the wifi internet. I was actually sitting at a different table then where I normally sit.

At the table, a woman said she was going to watch a video and asked if that would be a problem. She wasn't talking to me because I guess the other people were closer and then the people at the table were talking with her. The other 2 people knew each other and apparently this woman was researching organ donation for her husband as he was in need of a donor. Although these people probably couldn't have helped, I thought it was sweet how the man was showing concern for her situation and encouraging her to tell people and get the word out about the situation.

I thought wow what nice people. I don't know if it's because I have introversion tendencies but I usually am quite fearful to initiate conversations with strangers (although I will speak to them if they start a conversation). I would never be like that with someone and be helpful. I'd be a bit nervous.

So I had left the library to go to the bank as I had some cheques to cash. I am maybe a 2 minute walk from the streetcar stop when I feel someone from behind me try to grab my purse. I have a hand bag for a purse. My friend makes fun of me because it has 3 compartments, 2 of which are open and the other is zippered. I like the purse because it makes me feel like a doctor. I bought that purse a couple of years ago and had a hard time finding one I liked.

I turn around and start pulling my purse away from her. I had to yell and I dragged her towards the street in hopes of getting a car involved and I eventually freed myself from her. I also was kicking at her and fought for my purse. If she had a weapon, maybe I would have not fought.

I was quite shaken up and went to the hair salon since it was the closest business and I told them what happened. Since I was still shocked, it didn't occur to me to call the cops but they told me to call the cops which I did.

One guy who was waiting at the streetcar stop gave me some information about her and where she went and I think he might have tried to follow. He had to leave for work but I asked him to give me his number and write out information for when the cops arrive.

The cops came and they were already looking for the person but didn't find her. They took me down the street where the guy told me she went down and we didn't find her.

I eventually got angry about what happened and I felt violated. This is my neighborhood and although this happened about a 10 minute walk from where I live, I don't appreciate it and I want to feel safe when I walk.

I joked to the cops though that she probably should have waited until after I went to the bank if she wanted my money, not before.

I told my friend and she thinks because I have a hand bag, it makes it an easy target to snatch so she gave me a couple of her purses (I paid some money for it) that you wear over your shoulder and hopefully that will make my purse not look so enticing to purse snatchers.

The irony of it all was I was wearing my Threadless (it's the name of an online store) shirt that said "Canada: living the American dream without all the violence since 1867".

I also read online at the site for the local police that it's best to release your purse if someone is trying to steal it to prevent injury. I think that makes sense if they have a weapon but I had fought back and succeeded. This woman was probably an inch or 2 shorter then me so I had a good chance of succeeding.

I was also surprised that my handles could withstand this because there was a lot of tugging going on. There were no damages to it either and my purse was made in China! China apparently can manufacture good products since my purse was not damaged as there were lots of tugging and pulling was going on. Yeah China!

So my day begins with being exposed to kind people showing concern to dealing with some criminal trying to steal my purse. Humans are quite strange!

Kicked out!

Greetings and salutations,

I got kicked out of my second meetup group last week. I emailed the organizer and asked why but she never got back to me. I attended 2 events so I don't know why she'd kick me out. I was thinking of leaving it anyways but I would have preferred to leave then get kicked out!

I showed up later for the last event but that was because we had dinner and I had to watch my money and didn't want to waste $20 on dinner and I am wondering if that's why. The group is for single women to hang out downtown and the organizer writes on the site that we women need to stick together! They spent probably an hour and a bit complaining about men. Maybe she could see I was getting bored and annoyed (or maybe I hide it well) during those conversations.

Most of the women were all bitching about the same thing (not all of them).
Bitching about things like:
How Men can't commit
How Men online lie about who they are
About Men who still live with their parents

This was going on as well during the first meetup and we were at a more fancy restaurant. I was riding home on the streetcar with another woman from the meetup, who was older then me, who I thought was nice. She remarked that it wasn't appropriate for them to be complaining in such an environment since other people were there wanting to enjoy themselves as well. I agreed since I found it pointless. So it seems to be a pattern going on.

I'm all for self expression and ranting because sometimes that can be productive but I don't know if that was what was going on. I felt like they weren't taking responsibility for what was going on. I mean, if a man is lying about who is online, isn't it up to you to figure that out? There obviously are men out there that need to mature and grow up before they are ready for a responsible relationship and all you can do is be aware of the men that you date and get involved with.

Since I've done some reading on relationships and, I think it needs to be acknowledged that because the genders sometimes react differently to things, there maybe some behaviours people are doing that are making it difficult for them to get someone to commit.

Anyways, we're only responsible for ourselves so why complain about the losers that are out there. We don't have to fix them!

I think all women should just accept the fact that all men are stupid and that only the smart ones realize how stupid they are (I think this applies to all humans though)! The faster you realize that, the easier it is to understand them! I just don't understand the endless complaining, it just makes them look bitter and unattractive.

Hating the 'Rents

Greetings all,

Sometimes I just don't like my parents. They are really different from me in many ways and sometimes I just don't connect with them.

Being that I am unemployed and still seriously job hunting, I get frustrated that my dad had it easier then me. He immigrated to this country when he was 23, knocked up my mother when she was 18. He managed to get a good paying job, considering he only had grade 3 education.

By the time he hit my age - 30 - he already had 3 kids and a house and a good paying job.

I don't even have that and I am not even close to having that!

I am a fucking genius who failed Mensa by 1%. I have never had a really good paying job and have had to struggle to find a good job. I want to be a comedian and here I am making nothing at this point.

I don't even have a boyfriend.

All I have is an upset uterus that wants to fuck men and have babies but I keep telling it to wait and relax.

It isn't fair! I have the will to work too so it's not like I can say I am lazy and that is why I am not having a good job.

I think my dad would collapse if he was born in another generation.

It really just boils down to luck.
And anyone that says anything about hard work is probably living in a bubble. Even if you work hard, that guarantees nothing.

I've done more and put more effort in work then he ever has but I am not even remotely ahead. He comes here to make a better life for himself but all 4 of his kids struggle to make it. They probably want us to be happy and successful but it really doesn't matter what a parent does because at the end of the day, we all will fend for ourselves.

I fucking hate you guys sometimes!

And He's Back!

Greetings all,

I had previously mentioned in my last post that there was someone I was interested in and that I would tell y'all another day. Well today is the 'another day' although technically it really is just a few hours. I did a show tonight and was in no mood to write.

Well the person that I was wondering if he was interested in me is none other then the English Muffin. I decided to send him a message back in April and we have been chatting since.

I had last written about him at the end of the year. To quickly recap I was getting all frustrated that we were just emailing each other since we started talking again. I believed I was slightly brainwashed from a relationship book I read and didn't come out directly to say that I wanted to chat on Skype.

Anyways, I figure he wasn't chasing after me because of how I abused my Facebook status updates, letting him subtly know that I was dating others because I didn't want to sit and wait around while he decides if he wants a relationship with me or not. I probably broke his sad little heart so I just messaged him back in April and asked if I upset him but apparently he decided to just ignore me since he thought I was on some mission on how he should and shouldn't talk to me.(which I could see how he would interpret that as such)

I didn't want to come off as demanding because I just find it easier to talk on Skype but like I said earlier, I was slightly brainwashed by a relationship book.

Anyways, I was still not sure if he was interested in me. I mean I know I was interested in him. He left little clues behind in his emails that made me still think he was interested but I'm a big fan of direct communication so I still had some doubts. He'd have to say 'I am still interested in you' and I think I would clearly get that message, so that's why I'd use the relationship forum.

I wonder if guys spend this much time analyzing girls because on that forum, these women spend alot of time. I enjoy analyzing but even I put a stop to it because it can get out of hand. I don't think there is anything wrong with analyzing a situation. A little bit of it can do some good and so I did ask for some opinions online since I guess I needed some feedback/assurance that I think he still was interested.

I admit to stalking him online. I mean I know he has a photo album up and I was hoping that he doesn't have something like Blog Patrol where you can see what countries are following you. I would look at them occasionally and see if he uploaded any new pictures.

It's not really stalking though, it's research!

So the other day he messages me and says he was looking at some of the pictures of when we were in Bath and asked if I wanted to come over again.

I was pleased to see that he was showing he is sappy like I am and probably was lusting at my picture much like how I would lust at his photo.

So now I plan on having 'my revenge' at the relationship forum to let the poster know that she was wrong in saying that he was interested but now he no longer was interested.

Okay I'm not really vengeful but it would be funny to post about it.

I let him know that I would like to meet him again but since I am unemployed and have to watch my money, it would be awhile but I let him know that it's his turn to visit me. I think though that since he has told me he has been thinking for the past few years that he would like to leave England for Canada, he probably should be doing more visiting then me since I know I am not willing to move to England any time soon.

And so the drama unfolds...

I Hate Online Know-it-Alls

Greetings all,

I have written back that I hate Know-it-alls but now I officially hate Online Know-it-alls.

I am guessing KIA are like this because maybe they are insecure about their intelligence or insecure in general but they are still annoying to be around.

I was on some online forum where everyone supports each other about their relationship experiences. The people are all pretty much single women and not married women giving advice.

I had explained my current situation and asked for feedback on various things and I thought most people gave good responses but one woman starts to turn on me and basically says I am not listening to the advice. I of course get angry because I am listening. It was like this person was creating a problem that wasn't there - accusing me of not listening.

And how does one determine someone is not listening? Am I going to get quizzed at the end of this message?

I am taking a few days break from these dumb asses to calm down but another person was agreeing with her. I was listening and I don't understand their problem!

First of all, most of these women desire a long term relationship but none have achieved that so there is going to be some flaw in their advice (a happily married woman probably could give better advice or not but at least one could argue these women haven't achieved their goal therefore what do they know?)

This person on the board was withholding her opinion which was basically she thought this person I was interested in was no longer interested in me (which others already thought he was interested). This person was withholding because she didn't think I was listening so there was no point in saying her opinion.

So as I write out my situation here on my blog, I can see the absurdity of this person.

I call people like that "Spiritual Growth" Nazis but I wonder if it really is applicable. I call them that because they are pushing you to grow but really it's their ego at work.

I will tell you all about this person who I think is interested in me another day (this person showed me that there still was interest just after this forum incident).

I will have to get back on the forum to let this ignoramus know she was wrong.

I think we are all entitled to our opinions even if they are contrary but why would someone act that way?

But what disturbs me more is that I let it get to me. I share my experience and make myself vulnerable, only to have someone act like they have my best interest at heart but they really don't, and only want to be perceived as the relationship expert.

In real life, I'd avoid a KIA but I like going to that board and it's difficult to avoid this KIA but I think as long as I am conscious of what is going on, then maybe this dumbass won't get to me as much.

Cops Can Be So Ignorant!

Greetings,

Today I was in my apartment, job hunting in the afternoon. There are 2 door entrances you can exit. I had to run a quick errand and went using the North door in my building to access the parking lot.

There is only one driveway to get out and as I made my way to the exit in my car, I saw a cop car blocking the driveway. If I had exited in the South door, I would have seen them and told them to move. I thought how ignorant of them to be blocking the only driveway we have to get out of here. They could have parked on the street and not have been so ignorant.

Well I honked my horn at them. I am not afraid of cops and frankly find many of them arrogant and many have an entitlement mentality. Like they think you should fear them because they have 'power'.

I do not have fear for people who abuse their power like that. I felt these cops were abusing their power by blocking the driveway. They were just sitting there for no reason.

The one cop comes out and starts giving me attitude because I honked at them. He accused me of having road rage. I didn't appreciate him overreacting to my honking. He expected that I get out of my car and tell them politely.

That is BS!

The cop shouldn't have taken my honking personally but as a common signal from one driver to another, to get out of the way.

I took down his name and he gave me his badge #. His attitude already put me in defensive mode. This is my territory and they were in the way for no legitimate reason only because they were too lazy to park on the street.

I also didn't appreciate him saying I have road rage because I am actually a calm and laid back driver.

He proceeded to tell me that a man fell out of the window (there are only 3 stories and a basement in my building) and that there were ambulances. I didn't hear any sort of that nonesense going on and either that person attempted suicide or he was 'pushed' out because this building has no balconies. He clearly was trying to guilt trip me and make me feel bad but doing that kind of psychological abuse doesn't usually work on me.

If there an ambulance blocking the driveway, I probably would have not honked because ambulances usually don't have this power mentality that I find cops tend to have and usually they are busy working and not taking the easy way like these cops were doing as they clearly could have been parked on the street. Their job did not require that they block this driveway.

I will complain to the police department about the arrogance of this cop because his partner yelled at me as well for honking. Talk about childish! Afraid of a civilian honking their horn? (personally I think cops like this are weak on the inside and only gravitate towards jobs like this so they automatically get this feeling of power and authority... people with real power are humble and do not feel the need to act tough to intimidate people, which I find many cops try to do)

I came back to my apartment after an hour and a half and these lazy jerks were still blocking the driveway. Clearly there was no need for them to be doing so, so it just proves that they were being lazy asses in the first place and they were just giving me attitude because I called them out on their laziness.