Last week, someone sent me a link to an eBay auction. There, I saw that skyesgems was using, word-for-word, text copied from an old page of my website, which I had written to describe one of my Tahoma jasper cabs offered for sale. Wow, that was really upsetting to find… I mean, why didn’t she just ASK, instead of TAKING? I would certainly have considered helping her. Perhaps she thought no one would ever know what she had done…
My email to Skye got no reply, so I contacted the auction site’s copyright agent, and the auction was promptly deleted. Then, within days, yet another skyesgems auction was found to be using the same stolen text, and eBay ended that one too. Sadly, it seems some are slow to learn, and the idea of being original in word and deed, honest work by one’s own efforts, and thinking for oneself can be a long time coming.
It isn’t the first time something like this has happened; the growing problem of plagiarism is an ugliness that’s all too rampant, especially on the internet, as is copyright infringement. To be perfectly frank, I am still struggling with resentment over these incidents, but another friend sent something that has helped me to put things in a better perspective. With her permission, I am sharing that wisdom with those of you reading this blog:
Long ago, an old Grandfather spoke to his grandson, who had come to him angry about an injustice done to him by someone.
“Come, sit by the fire with me and I will tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hatred for those who have taken so much, with no shame for what they do. But hate only wears you down, and does nothing to hurt your enemy. It’s like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die.
Many times, I have struggled with these feelings. It is as if there are two wolves inside me, locked in a terrible battle. One wolf is good and does no harm, living in harmony with everything around him, never taking offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.
But the other wolf… ah! The smallest thing will send him into a fit of temper. He fights with everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his hate and anger are so great. His is senseless anger, for his anger changes nothing.
It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, and their raging battle for control of my spirit.” Intently, the boy looked into his Grandfather’s eyes and asked, “Which wolf wins, Grandfather?”
The Grandfather smiled to himself, and said thoughtfully, “The one I feed.”
-An old Cherokee legend, author unknown
