As some of you know, I recently had a Stephen King-like horror experience traveling to a mystery convention in California. It started with a series of airline errors that left me stranded at the Los Angeles airport and ended with my ticket back home to Seattle accidentally being deleted by the same airline. In between, my luggage was lost, I was unable to sleep due to recurring travel-related nightmares, and I had a still-confusing incident with a fellow writer who I can only describe as the adult version of the “mean girls” I dealt with in high school.
But that’s not what this blog is about. This blog is about karma. I don’t claim to understand all of the yoga teachings, but I do have a concept of karma. Karma indicates that actions have consequences, not just to others, but to ourselves. Simply put, the law of karma promises that the actions we take in this life will have repercussions in the next.
Who knows if it’s true? As much as I’d love to have a future-life “do-over” to correct my mistakes, I can only say one thing for certain: the kindness of several people stood out this past weekend, and I appreciate them: a baggage claim clerk who went out of his way to explain what had happened to me in LA; a young person who helped an elderly gentleman place his luggage into the overhead compartment on the plane back to Seattle; a TSA employee who treated a Middle Eastern man with kindness and respect when his ID didn’t match his travel documents.
None of this seems major, but it was all yogic, and it was huge to the people it helped. Being kind doesn’t take much. A smile, a “please sit down and join us,” a “I don’t know what happened, but I’ll try to help.” The kindness you show others may have repercussions that are more powerful than you will ever realize.
Five authors made my awful weekend a little brighter, simply by making me feel welcome when others did not. There are a gazillion talented writers out there. Great human beings are harder to come by. I’m already a fan of these authors, and you can bet I’ll be buying more of their books. Please join me.
- Shannon Baker—author of the Nora Abbott Mysteries
- Waverly Fitzgerald—co-author of the Barking Detective Mystery Series
- Gigi Pandian—author of the Jaya Jones Mystery series
- Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter—authors of the Pampered Pets Mysteries
Tracy
Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber's author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series. MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Whole Life Yoga, and bookstores everywhere!
5 comments:
Next time you get stranded in LA, Tracy, be sure to contact me! I know some of the authors you mentioned and hope to meet the others, too.
I'm sorry you had so many problems to mar your weekend. It's good the kindness of some made up for it.
Thanks ladies. Looking for a better "do-over" at Malice.
Well, shut my mouth! I've been diving in the Caribbean diving all week and came home to a bazillion emails to sort through. I'm so glad I did sort instead of delete to find this sweet blog. Tracy, you draw goodness to you! I loved getting to know you a little bit. Hope we'll get to spend more time together.
Thank you, Shannon! It was a joy to get to know you, too, Here's hoping we can spend more time together in the future.
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