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Do you believe that a place can have bad karma for you?

PKTrekGirlPKTrekGirl Posts: 747
edited June 2011 in All Encompassing Trip
Hello all,

Question: Do you believe that one ALWAYS 'makes their own luck', regardless of where they are? Or do you believe it is possible that sometimes the forces of the universe/God/higher power/whatever you want to call it tries to tell us 'You are not where you are supposed to be - time to correct course and move on?' thru the things that happen to us?

I ask this because I have lived now for several years in a city where I never felt 'rooted'. I have family here (about the only good thing that has happened since I got here is getting close to them), but I have had more bizarro-awful things happen to me since I got here than you could possibly imagine. Granted, a few of the awful things that have happened were due to bad choices on my part - I make mistakes, just like everyone else. But it seems that even when the good choice is blatantly obvious, as soon as I made it, it immediately turns to shit. And in a way that no one could have possibly anticipated, leaving everyone who knows me just drop-jawed in shock.

I don't really want to get into detail as I don't want to be a whiner here - that is not the intent of this thread.

My intent is to simply ask if just MAYBE, the real mistake I made was to move here to begin with...and if maybe the universe has been trying to tell me that this place is not where I'm supposed to be...and that I need to try a different path.

I should also add that this city has never been a very good fit for me, personality-wise. I moved to Atlanta from Anchorage, Alaska (with a year's stop in Moscow, Russia, where I was working), and the terrible heat and humidity, the pollution, the politics, the fake 'southern hospitality' (until they find out you are not exactly like them) and the godawful traffic here have been wearing on me since Day One. I am pretty...erm...'bohemian'...and Atlanta is not what I would characterize as a bohemian kind of place. :lol: I love my family - my sister (who is the one I moved here for) is really my best friend, and I don't want to leave her, to be honest...which is why I have stayed this long.

But I feel like a sapling for a tree that belongs in the Pacific Northwest...that has been brought to Georgia and stuck in the wrong kind of dirt, in the wrong kind of climate, in the wrong kind of environment. Through sheer force of will, I have survived. I am not a quitter and never have been. But by no means have I found a way to thrive here either. Although I really have tried.

So what is it? Have I not tried hard enough? Is it ALWAYS possible to 'bloom where you are planted'? Or could it be that sometimes, the universe is just trying to tell you to stop banging your head against a (in my case) Georgia Colonial Architecture wall...and move back to an area that suits you better? Or try something new completely?

I'd love to hear comments/personal experiences and questions others might have on this issue. I am now sort of at a crossroads after this latest round of seriously bad karma...and need some feedback. I came here to ask the question primarily because I want objective feedback from people who might possibly be 'thinkers'. And seems to me that PJ is a band that attracts 'thinkers'. At least that's one of the draws for me! :lol:
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • LikeAnOceanLikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    It's all state of mind, so no. 8-)


    There's a billion different things we could do with our lives, but being positive about what is going on for us is what makes us lucky.


    There are human beings living homeless under highway overpasses that are happier than people with enough money to buy any "destiny" they want.
  • JaneNYJaneNY Posts: 4,438
    I'm not sure that karma is the word I'd use, but if you're in a place you don't feel like you fit in, and a place where people don't understand you/don't get your jokes so to speak, it can be very suffocating. Its not your fault. People are different, and if you can't be yourself where you are, then maybe it is not the place for you. I've lived in a place for over 20 years that I'll never really feel like I belong in, and I don't have a choice. Fortunately I have my family, my little home, my kids, my animals, and I'm going back to school to resume study of a subject I love, so I'll be able to spend more time around people I have something in common with.

    Taking your interests into account, maybe do a little more 'underground' searching in your town - maybe there's folks that look at life the way you do, and you just haven't found them yet.
    R.i.p. Rigoberto Alpizar.
    R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
    R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
  • mysticweedmysticweed Posts: 3,710
    i believe that if YOU believe a place has bad karma
    it will if by no other means than
    occupying your mind with negativity
    fuck 'em if they can't take a joke

    "what a long, strange trip it's been"
  • RKCNDYRKCNDY Posts: 31,013
    "you can take a NW girl out of the NW, but you can't take the NW out of a NW girl"

    I say this because when I was 'young and dumb' I moved to Cali (San Jose) for a few months. I wanted 'a new adventure'...didn't have any friends (my BF at the time only) or family there. It was ok for a little bit, but after 6 months I was sad, depressed, I thought 'does it have to be so freaking SUNNY ALL. THE. DAMN. TIME?!?!' :lol: (I missed the rain!)

    From my experience, the people there are 'cold', they have their own 'group' they hang with, they don't want any new people, they have no interest in anything else but themselves. I tried going out, finding friends, we went to Santa Cruz, San Francisco, every weekend...I just never felt like I 'belonged', I felt stagnant, stuck, hopeless. The only time I ever felt like 'hey I like these people!' was at a record store....they were the employees...maybe because it was 97 and I said I was from Seattle...their faces lit up like a Las Vegas marquee when I told them I was from Seattle. :lol:

    But when I moved back (9 months later), I felt great, found a job right away(took me 6 months to find a job in Cali), called all my friends and went out. I felt like 'This is where I belong!' Like that last piece of a puzzle...complete.

    Don't take your move as a 'mistake', if you do, then was being there for your sister a mistake? Or what if you had never met your friend? Those are good things! The move was a 'learning' experience...if it doesn't seem to be working, move on, there are many more adventures to be had!

    Also, one little 'insider tip' about people from the south,'Southern hospitality only exists until they find out you want to move there' (I overheard this while at a restaurant in NO) Don't get me wrong, I loved New Orleans, and loved Mardi Gras, I liked Orlando, and Houston and San Antonio...but I have experienced some 'abrasiveness' from some southern gals...ones that moved here and that I've worked with. :? :( (guess they never change) so I can feel for you.

    I think you need to follow your heart...go to where you feel your 'calling'. There are so many people that live here that say, 'I was born and raised in "blahblahblah' but I came to visit here once, and haven't gone back'...why do you think we tell people 'it always rains here'? :lol: We want to keep the beautiful NW all to ourselves!

    Right now, I live farther away from Seattle then I like, and I feel SO out of place here (I actually hate it here)...but my birth certificate states 'Seattle' and I will never claim to be from anywhere else...because that is where I truly belong.
    The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

    - Christopher McCandless
  • whispering handswhispering hands Posts: 13,527
    RK is right..you won't always find a place where you "belong", per-say, but you can always make due.. I was born and raised in So Cal, and hated it all my life save for two towns, where my old school cowgirl/Punk Rock personality fit perfectly.. I moved to the Mid-west ( starting in New Mexico, then Missouri, then Kansas, then back to Cali, back to Mo, then again back to Kansas, Oklahoma, Kansas again and now Colorado!!) my version of the whole thing is.. Home is where the heart is..the rest is up to you and the attitude you keep, just stay true to yourself, and make the best of what comes!
  • BinauralJamBinauralJam Posts: 14,158
    Yes i Do
  • chadwickchadwick Posts: 21,157
    we all need a spot (or two).
    for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7

    "Hear me, my chiefs!
    I am tired; my heart is
    sick and sad. From where
    the sun stands I will fight
    no more forever."
    Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
  • Ms. HaikuMs. Haiku Posts: 7,258
    I think Karma, instinct and a little spark of inspiration directs us to unknown lands, and then it's up to us to realize that trusting our instinct is a bad idea sometimes.

    After 2 of the 10 years I lived in Seattle I blamed my loneliness on a past life issue because I couldn't find any reason why I had such a hard time there. When I moved back east, near my family, life was better.

    I didn't move earlier because I didn't want to seem like a failure by living close to family again, and I didn't want to try another place new to fail. In 2003 when unemployment in Seattle was the 4th highest, it was time to go.

    Don't be like me and think it will get better, if only . . .if only . . . if only. It won't. Congratulations on finding out before you burn out. :)
    There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous
    The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
  • iluvcatsiluvcats Posts: 5,153
    I will send you a PM, I hope that's ok since I do not know you :)

    why don't tell us what you did? we have some good people here! they are kinda equivalent to a "board psychologist." :)
    9/98, 9/00 - DC, 4/03 - Pitt., 7/03 - Bristow, 10/04 - Reading, 10/05 - Philly, 5/06 - DC, 6/06 - Pitt., 6/08 - Va Beach, 6/08 - DC, 5/10 - Bristow, 10/13 B'more
    8/08 - Ed solo in DC, 6/09 Ed in B'more,
    10/10 - Brad in B'more
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    no.. i own every place ive ever been and so every place is imbued with positive energy.
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • pandorapandora Posts: 21,855
    its the Longitude
  • ByrnzieByrnzie Posts: 21,037
    I never felt like I belonged in England, and I always wanted to leave. Going back there after 3 years in China I felt even more out-of-place than I ever did before. So, yeah, I agree with your basic premise.
  • PKTrekGirlPKTrekGirl Posts: 747
    Thanks very much to everyone who replied.

    I appreciate all the comments and will really think about some of the things said. I need to make some important decisions about the direction of my life...and very much appreciate the input.

    Seems like 'Thumbing My Way' is at the top of my rotation list this week. Wonder why..... :lol:
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