Jenny Feldon believes in karma. Not the oh my gosh this place has bad karma let’s get out of here kind of karma, but the live with intention, make positive choices, and put kindness first kind of karma. And that she does…even when life gets in the way.
As in…even when her husband announced that they were being outsourced to India. With a few tears in her eyes and a carry on bag full of completely impractical items, Jenny left her fast-paced New York City behind for the adventure of a lifetime. Or so she was told. It didn’t take long for Jenny to realize that she would need to redefine the word “adventure” if she had any hope of surviving this unforeseen culture shock.
Karma Gone Bad is equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking. It is a story of self-discovery and learning to embrace obstacles along the way. It is the story of a girl who learned that she is so much stronger than she ever gave herself credit for.
With her husband working long hours and only her beloved dog to keep her company most of the time, Jenny faced near-crippling depression, anxiety, and loneliness along the way. She wanted to cash in and check out. And yet, she decided to fight. Karma Gone Bad is not just a memoir about learning to live outside of your comfort zone, it is a wake-up call to strip away the outer layers and learn to love your soul. Because at the end of the day, all we have is who we choose to be.
Often times memoirs feel like a recap of something hard with a feeling of triumph at the end. Survival is a very powerful tool, after all. What makes Jenny’s story rise above the rest is that she is a writer. She weaves her tale with such grace and beauty that you will laugh out loud at her mishaps, cry beside her when she falls, and jump up and down when she picks herself up and begins again. Jenny will draw you in and take you along for the ride every step of the way.
Before you head off to buy her book (which you really should have done by now but I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt here), I will leave you with a few tips on simplifying your life that Jenny learned along the way…
The Simple Life: Lessons From India on Turning Less Into More
· Use less stuff(or just use the same stuff more often…): It’s amazing how washing and drying everything by hand changes your perspective on how many utensils you use and outfits you wear. In New York, I used to fill my dishwasher with dozens of spoons and knives I’d used just one time each. In India, I quickly learned that washing the same spoon was faster and easier. Ditto for clothing–gone were the days of tossing a pair of jeans I’d worn once into the laundry basket. In all that humidity, they took forever to dry…and the time and energy saved was reason enough to change my ways.
· Shop by the meal: Electricity in India can be unreliable, so buying only the ingredients needed to complete a meal both streamlines the cooking process and reduces the risk of spoiled food. There, I shopped for groceries each day. In the US, juggling work and kids doesn’t always make that possible, so I try to search for recipes and plan meals a week at a time. Shopping by the meal saves me a lot of time, in the grocery store andin the kitchen. I know exactly what I need in the store, and I spend less time staring into the refrigerator waiting for inspiration to strike at 6pm when the kids are starving!
· Plan your online time: Between frequent power cuts and unreliable internet, getting online in Hyderabad was an absolute luxury. Gone were the days of falling down the internet rabbit hole–I had to set very specific goals for my online time. I made lists of essential emails to write and websites to visit, and kept to a five minute limit for most search tasks. I did miss the days I’d spent leisurely browsing Shopbop and Wikipedia, but I also wasted a lot less time. I fell back in love with pastimes that didn’t require electricity, like knitting, reading and going for long walks in the park.
· Less clutter, more zen: Nothing was more humbling to me than watching garbage pickers go through the trash bags outside our Indian home, salvaging almost 100% of what I’d carelessly tossed away. From vegetable scraps to broken plastic, almost everything we thought was garbage was useful–and profitable–to someone else. Now that we’re at home, I try to buy less and keep only items that are well-used and well-loved…but even so, we end up with more than we need. Now we have regular “purge” days in my house–we round up whatever we’re no longer using (the kids, too!) and donate to charities and organizations who can put the items to good use.
Karma Gone Bad is available everywhere – pick up your copy today! You can find Jenny on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and on her beautifully written blog, Karma, Continued…
Disclosure: Some of you might already know that Jenny is a very dear friend of mine. We met a few years ago (she calls it Twitter Karma, I call it a mutual love of lattes, skinny jeans, and husbands who insist on leaving us behind for long periods of time – yes, I’m looking at you two), but we often connect as if we’ve known each other forever. Who knows? Maybe she’s right. Maybe there is something to this karma thing… Anyway, my review of this book isn’t about friendship. I’ve been lost in Jenny’s words for quite some time now, and I can’t say enough good things about Karma Gone Bad. Are you still here?!?! For the love of mangos, will you please go buy this book?
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