Karmic Journal: July

Where do I begin this month? I heard so many lovely stories and saw so many acts of kindness from people that it’s really hard to decide what to share. July is a month when many families are on vacation, so the good deed doing was definitely at a peak and decidedly “family style.” Many families incorporate activities to teach their children to “pay it forward,” and the Karmic app is perfect for this.

One encounter that particularly touched me is about a shy, young girl, around 12 years old. Her mother said she wished her daughter would talk a bit more — be more outgoing and sociable. The girl gave a spin to the Karmic wheel of good deeds that I created for The Gathering of The Vibes music festival. The carnival-style wheel stopped on, “Hug a stranger and share some love!”  Her mother smiled and quietly said to me, “Oh boy. This will never happen.” As she was ready to let her daughter spin again, the girl walked up to a stranger that was passing them on the path and gave her a hug. I picked her mom’s jaw off the ground and high-fived the girl who had the biggest smile I think I have ever seen. Right before my very eyes I witnessed how actions really do speak louder than words. The young girl may be quiet when it comes to her voice, but she was heard loud and clear by everyone who saw her big, joyful hug. 

Stay mindful. Be kindful.

Love,
Sara

Happiness!
– Sam, the Karmic Cat

Karmic Journal: June

Every morning, I open my Karmic app, shake my phone and do the good deed that appears on the screen. I call it my “morning shake” – my way to achieve a healthful, uplifting start to the day. But the thing about doing something good and nice for someone is that it inspires you to keep going. It’s a kick-start. So in the grocery store one day, after my morning shake, I noticed the woman who was checking out before me was having trouble using the electronic credit card machine. She couldn’t see where to sign. It was tipped horizontally and she was too short to view the screen. Being 6’ tall, I reached over and flipped it up to the vertical position. She looked up at me. “Thank you,” she said. “I’ve been too short my whole life.” No problem, I shrugged and smiled. It was an easy thing to help her with. “But what I really want to thank you for,” she continued, “is for helping me feel tall.” I thanked her back, suddenly feeling short in the face of her generosity. It’s always good to remember that what seems small for one person can feel big to another.

Love,
Sara

Yoga Anyone?
– Sam, The Karmic Cat

Karmic Journal: May

If you’re a friend of mine, you have the Karmic app on your phone because I have cornered you, in the nicest way, and watched you download it! I do this because I believe not just in what I created but in what I have seen and witnessed it can do for people. Believe it or not, the concept of helping yourself feel better through helping others, is not something everyone easily believes. But I hear stories from the frontlines of good-deed-doing everyday and know personally, that kindfulness can improve quality of life, positive achievement and health. A few weeks ago, I was at a party at a friend's house. David came walking up to me with a big smile on his face and his phone outstretched in his hand. “Look,” he said as he showed me a Karmic Deed from his list of completed deeds. “I went on the app this morning and the deed said to call someone I haven’t spoken to for a while. So I thought about it, picked up the phone, and called my mother. It made me realize that I haven’t called her in a few weeks because I’ve been so busy. It made her day, and mine too.”  He thanked me. I thanked him. Life is good when life is kindful.

Love,
Sara

Prayer’s On The Street: Free prayers from a group traveling the east coast. No donation. No catch. 

Karmic Journal: April

Bob Thurman, the Buddhist scholar, spoke at Tibet House recently. His teaching is more like advice than a lecture and it is profoundly practical. He has a playful and infectious laugh. A laughing Buddha, I thought. I wondered if I should rub his belly for luck after his talk and if I did, would he understand?  I shifted in my chair and told myself to focus. As his talk progressed, the need to pay attention melted away. Listening to Bob is an immersive experience that allows you to get swept up in the moment. For those two hours in Tibet House, the outside world and its stresses seemed to disappear. It’s the same feeling you get when you’re lost in conversation with a really good friend. Bob says, that happiness is something that comes from within each person at the very moment when you actually stop trying to be happy. In order to be happy, you have to forget about yourself and what you’re trying to solve or perfect in your life. Happiness is something most of us realize during reflection. We recognize it in its past form and aren’t always good at seeing it in the present moment. It’s one of life’s tricks. Thinking back, I was really happy at Tibet House. I wish I knew it then.

April Showers: Guess what’s about to bloom?  #springflowers

Karmic Journal: March

This month, I was asked to introduce the Spirituality Panel at the Woodstock Writers Festival. Author and activist Gail Straub moderated a conversation with writers Clark Strand and Mark Matousek. Their topic was the role of darkness in life. This was the perfect panel for me, I thought, as I created Karmic to help pull me up from a dark point in my life. But as I stood on stage, people in the audience began to hold up their phones, showing me their Karmic app screens. As I stood there about to kick off a panel that would discuss darkness in both literal and metaphorical terms, all I saw was light. The panel discussion began and Mark Matousek quoted Rumi, the 13th century mystic poet, saying, “The wound is the place where light enters you.” This quote simply says that if we can embrace our dark places – our wounds – then we have the ability to let in some light and heal. It’s easy to focus on the light in our lives, on the happy and uplifting moments and brush the unhappy or unpleasant parts under the carpet in the name of staying positive. This, however, can result in a false-happy. You have to let in the dark parts in order to see the light. Open your wounds. It’s the only way to heal.

"Those Who Wish to Sing, Will Always Find a Song" – Plato

Karmic Journal: February

Recently, I received an email from an acquaintance. In the course of this email, she told me her daughter was having her last chemo treatment for cancer and that her mother was just put in a hospice so she could finish her days on earth in comfort.  Despite all that was on her plate, she was emailing to let me know that my daughter sent her a song to listen to from her new album and that it moved her deeply, like great music does. It took my breath away that despite all she was dealing with, she took the time to lift my heart.  She had family on her mind but not just her family. She connected with my family and helped shine a light on the joy and delight I have for my daughter.  This generosity of spirit –the ability to rise above and feel real happiness for others amid personal sorrow – is the most true and valuable gift one can receive.

Seen in Washington Square Park, NYC