I believe in karma. I don’t believe in any mystical explanations for karma; I just believe that we attract what we consciously do in our lives. For example, take gossip. The kind of person who is willing to gossip about others will eventually be on the receiving end of that sharp stick. The reason why? Because that person is willing to talk behind the back of coworkers, they assume it’s acceptable to talk behind the back of the gossiper. There are no spiritual or ethereal workings that bring the gossip back to the gossiper. It’s just a cause and effect.

Believing in karma and living by its practices are two different things, however. When confronted by gossip, it is difficult to say, “Please don’t talk to me about other people. I think it would hurt their feelings if they knew we were talking about them.” It’s so difficult that I have never said it. Me, the one who will say anything. Laura Moncur, the Sayer of Things Best Left Unsaid, has never spoken out against gossip when it lands in her lap.

So it’s no surprise to me when I hear that people talk about me. That doesn’t make it hurt any less. All I can do is hold my head up and resolve to stop gossip before it lands all over me like a sticky serum that attracts the hornets.