Circles

I don’t know about you but I strongly believe in karma. I believe that life works in circles – that our behaviour and the way we behave in situations will always influence how we are treated going forward. It’s always nice to believe that bad people will get their just deserts – and sometimes because we don’t get to see it we can forget that they will. Trust me – they willl. It does happen – we forge our own world with our behaviour and that world is one we then have to live in. If it’s a world filled with cruelty then that is what will surround a person. If it’s a world filled with betrayal then better watch your back because that is what the world around you will be made up of – people who will betray you.

Well that’s what I believe anyway. If you are the kind of person who shoots a crow for instance. It doesn’t mean that you are going to be shot by a crow in the future. It just means that you are forging a world where life and suffering doesn’t matter.

The other problem is that life isn’t black and white. There are so many grey areas.

Over the weekend I allowed myself to be drawn into what could be described as a Facebook scuffle. I love that people believe in different things and that we can talk about these things, discuss them and learn new ideas. I hate the fact that some people believe their beliefs are right and to get them across they should go to whatever lengths they can.

So, a friend of mine was upset by a post on Facebook and drew it to my attention. They asked if I would back them up – it was related to someone showing a menu for a woodpigeon dish they had cooked up. I appreciate that this was upsetting – it was. However, when I went to take a look I noticed that these two people were already on there. Some might call them vegan activists – I call them bullies. I blocked one of them several months ago when they waged war on a part-time pest controller by going to his place of employment (a hospital) and commenting on that page that he was a paedophile. Because it’s the same thing isn’t it! To me – this is bullying and it is not necessary so I blocked her.

When the other one messaged me privately about this post I should have ignored it. I should have just blocked her too. Stupidly I answered. Stupidly i told her that I didn’t like bullies and that led to me being called a Skank and various other names.

When you take that step – when you say and do these things thinking you are getting your point across you are actually doing the opposite. People are missing the point completely and just believe they are dealing with bullies who need to stop. You may have the best point in the world but if you put it across in the wrong way then it can have the opposite effect to what you want.

So, I guess this post is about being careful about how we conduct ourselves on the internet – particularly social media. Our Facebook page has mostly been a really positive place -we’ve had our blips and the occasional troll climbing up from under the bridge – but in the most part it’s a page I’m proud of. My personal page not always so much – I have an inability to stop myself sometimes.

My sister is a superhero in this respect. She has this trick she does. If someone is private messaging trying to provoke an argument then she waits. She lets them type – she watches those little dots on the screen and then after they’ve had time to really get into their vent she blocks them.

Nobody should be afraid to be themselves – online or off – but that means the people who are reading as well as those writing. x