What Goes Around, Comes Around

What goes around, comes around is a ubiquitous saying that is invoked when one has been wronged. I have found it in every language that I know, and met it in every culture I've seen. I think it's one of those universal Truths.

The essence of it seems to be: the energy you send out (positive or negative) will circle around and return to you eventually. However, I've never seen somebody use it after a positive interaction. It always seems to come after something bad happens.

So when we use it, what we are saying is: YOU harmed me (in some way), and therefore YOUR terrible energy that you put forth into the world will be back- and boy will you ever be sorry.

But what about the terrible things that we have said and done? Well, that's different because, we say, God/the Universe is all forgiving. In fact, we pray that the energy will somehow not make it back to us if we pray hard enough and beg for forgiveness. 

And yet, it's as much a law as gravity. The original English saying is, "you reap what you sow" which illustrates the concept much better. If you plant tomato seeds, for example, you will get tomatoes. Not peppers, not cucumbers- tomatoes. It wouldn't matter how much you prayed for something else, or how much you beat your chest or wailed- tomato seeds yield tomatoes. What you planted is what you will get.

Incidentally, when we plant 1 tomato seed, we don't just get 1 tomato- we get LOTS of them. 

My hope is to be more conscious of the energy I send out (as I'm prone to judging and lashing out more than I want to admit to myself or anyone), and fully embrace and learn from the energy that makes its way back to me- both positive and negative.

I Have a Message for the Queen

I've had many adventures in my life, this particular one happened to have been filmed.

Video  I come in at 36:35

I used to work for a wealthy Turkish businessman who had a huge personality and incredible insight and vision.

One day as we were sitting in the office, he turned off his blaring music and said, "Hocam, invite the Queen of England to the opening of our yacht club." It didn't matter at all that our "yacht club" was only in name- we had no club location, no boats, no team- nothing. It really was just an idea. But that never stopped Mehmet- if he had an idea, the rest would work itself out.

And so I set to the task of inviting royalty to our yacht club opening. The first thing I did was to Google "how to address royalty in an invitation". I found some sites and crafted the invitation. Next, I called the palace to find out how to hand deliver an invitation to the queen. [Mehmet had me print out the invite on heavy, fancy paper and then he sealed it with sealing wax; yes, that is a glimpse into the enormity that was Mehmet.]

After being hung up on many times by Buckingham Palace's switchboard, I was finally directed to the Queen's personal secretary. He assured me that I could send the invite via DHL or Fedex, but I told him that my boss insisted it be hand delivered. I obtained the name, address, and phone number of Her secretary and proceeded to board a flight to London.

When I got to passport control, the young woman working there asked my purpose for visiting England. I told her that I had to drop off an invitation to the Queen and then I planned on light shopping and then back to Istanbul. At the mention of the Queen, things began to go south.

I was taken to a back room and questioned for hours. The clincher? They told me that they were filming the interaction for training purposes and would I mind so much if they kept the cameras rolling? Of course, I told them it wouldn't be a problem, and I told myself that I would have to be on my best behavior.

The thing that irked me in this whole interaction is the fact that I was truly expected by the Queen's personal secretary. All they had to do was to call him, confirm, and then let me on my way. Later, when I watched the video, I realized that they did exactly that right away, but still kept me there answering questions for hours. No shopping for me that day!

Mehmet passed away before the yacht club could be completed, but he left me with a lot of memories, this being the only one that was filmed.

Being Lied To

I don't know why, but I get lied to a lot here. It used to drive me right up the wall, but over time I've gotten used to it.

I'm one of those people that is hard to lie to because I have a special spidey sense that sends me signals about incoming untruth.

But today I noticed that not only do I not care about being lied to, I also no longer feel the desire to call somebody out on the lie.

I was roaming the streets looking for good spinach for a börek I planned on making today. At Şok market the spinach was all wilted. I asked the attendant if he had anything more "alive". He tried to tell me that it was fresh, hearty spinach, but the wind blew on it so much that it wilted the spinach. I didn't even bat an eye or go into a discussion of what actually makes a plant wilt, but rather I said, "I'm still looking, I'll come back later."

It took a couple of stores, but I finally found some strong-leafed, fresh spinach.

I guess I've stopped calling people out on their lies because it does no good. They rarely (if ever) apologize, and in this culture it's rare indeed if they even admit to the lie. If it's a real whopper, I will say something- but not in an angry way. Usually I just burst out laughing- "That's the best you can do?" or "Are you practicing that lie for somebody who will actually believe it?"

I just take it now with a grain of salt. :)

Why Blog?

Part of my motivation is that my friends are constantly asking me to "write that down" when I talk to them.

I call the blog "Plant Based Brooks" to acknowledge my plant based diet of the last 5 years. But not all of my posts (as you can tell by the first one) will be about plant based eating and cooking.

This blog will be musings of the things I see and do in life. Also, I may write about some of my past adventures.

Peace and Love from Istanbul

Honesty and Trust

I had just finished swimming at the gym yesterday and just entered the dressing room when I heard the sound of my phone's alarm.

I quickly realized that it wasn't my phone, but that it was coming from another locker. I followed the sound to an unlocked locker. I opened the locker and there was somebody's clothes. Everything was there. His wallet was visible in the back pocket of his pants, and the phone alarm rang and rang.

Two thoughts bumped into each other simultaneously in my mind.

Thought one: Who can do that? Who can have so much trust in human kind as to leave their wallet (with probably cash and credit cards), a phone and who knows what else just laying around unprotected in a gym locker? I just can't imagine that. If I came to the gym but had forgotten my lock, I would just turn around and go home. Just the thought of my stuff being riffled through would kill any workout that I had planned. I marveled at the trust shown, but I also shivered with a bit of fear.

Thought two: Should I find the phone, shut off the alarm and put his phone on silent (if possible) to thwart any possible thieves? I stood at that locker a good 5 minutes before I ultimately decided against it. All I could imagine is that while trying to help this guy out, he might walk in, see me with his phone in my hand and then call me out as a thief. I left the alarm alone.

My whole life- except for that bought of shoplifting when I was 11 or 12- I have been impeccably honest. You can trust me with any amount of money or any valuable item. And yet, at the same time, I am very much NOT trusting of other human beings. It seems there is a disconnect there, but there it is.