Karma Construction Zone
Tonight’s Sidetracked Sisters writing topic is “karma,” and let’s just say… we’ve been circling the cosmic drain trying to make sense of it. Karma as payback? As justice? As some universal scorekeeper in the sky? Meh. It’s all a little murky. But then, I landed on a metaphor that actually clicked for me…
Each choice we make is a brick in the structure of our lives. Karma might not be a cosmic slap on the wrist—it could simply be the quiet architecture of cause and effect. What are you building without even realizing it?
As I wrestled with this idea, I kept thinking about something that’s always bugged me—how people explain tragedy through the lens of karma. Like, really? My Aunt Kathy died at 27 after a brutal nine-year battle with MS. Was that karma? Was she supposed to have deserved that somehow? That’s not karma. That’s just something truly awful happening to a really good person. Trying to make it make sense with some “she must have done something bad” logic feels cruel and just… wrong.
So instead of thinking of karma as punishment or reward, I see it more as construction.
Brick by brick, cause and effect. Choice and consequence.
That’s the lens I use as I build Lisa Hoffman Coaching. The foundation is the coursework and tools I learned in coach training. But the real heart of it—the walls, the color, the warmth—is made from my lived experience.
Like so many others, I began my relationship with Craig full of energy and excitement. We dated, swapped stories, flirted over dinner, went on adventures, and dreamed about the future. In karmic terms, we laid down some really solid bricks.
Then life happened. We built a house. We raised kids. We worked, we cleaned, we carpooled. The romantic energy? Yeah, that slowly got buried under school papers and grocery lists. And without meaning to, we stopped putting energy into our relationship. The structure was still standing, but the walls were looking a little neglected.
A couple of years ago, I wrote in my journal that my relationship with Craig wasn’t where I wanted it to be—and worse, I didn’t even have the energy to care, let alone change it.
But that’s the thing about karma-as-construction: you can pick up the tools again.
And I have. I’ve decided to grab karma by the horns (or maybe by the toolbelt?) and get to work. I’m intentionally laying new bricks—small ones, loving ones, sometimes silly ones—to rebuild the kind of relationship I always wanted, not just the one we accidentally defaulted into.
Now, I do want to say this: karma doesn’t always work in the way we expect. Sometimes, someone gives everything they have to a relationship—they show up, give generously, love deeply—and their partner is still an asshole who cheats on them. That doesn’t mean they built wrong. It just means karma isn’t a vending machine where you pop in good deeds and get back happily ever after. Sometimes, the structure falls apart because the other person wasn’t laying bricks with the same care—or at all.
What matters is that I am becoming more intentional with what I build. I am honest. I show up. That’s my real power.
So…is there such thing as karma? I don’t know.
If karma does exist, how does it work? Search me.
But right now, it’s working for me. And honestly? That feels like a pretty solid place to build from.
Click here to check out other Sidetracked opinions
Click here to listen to the Sidetracked Legacies podcast
Want to create your own legacy? Join the Sidetracked Sisters and start now!
Ever thought about working with a Life Coach? Are you creative or a writer who is frustrated with your inability to do the work you so desperately feel called to do? Check out Lisa Hoffman Coaching.
#sidetrackedsisters #sidetrackedlisa #sidetrackedlegacies #legacywriting #legacystories #writeyourownlegacy #LisaHoffmanCoaching
