“Superstition and accident manifest the will of god.” C. G Jung

“The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.” Aristotle

My car got bumped today. To be specific, the other driver thought he had more space than was actually there and, in his impatience to get through the too-tight space, his car gouged the side of mine. Or at least, that’s what it felt like as his metal got intimate with mine. It sounded as though he’d put a huge gash in the side.

He admitted liability and ran off to get his insurance documents. I stood there in wobbly shock, mind blank with what to do next in this situation, while other drivers in various states of hurry swore at me to move out of the way. Not a pleasant or uplifting experience for eight o’clock in the morning.

OK, so the physical damage was minor. But emotionally the bump has ricocheted through my day. I certainly didn’t feel I was handling this accident with grace or dignity. I’ve never had to claim on my car insurance before, and I’m loathe to start now. But more than that, I always interpret symbolically the events major and minor that happen in life, believing that Jung says about there being no such thing as an accident. If that’s the case, then what could the bump on my car mean, and what have I learned from it? Is there a deeper meaning? What’s my soul trying to communicate with me.

As I always do, I turn to my laptop for inspiration and insight. Through my keyboard I make sense of what’s happened and seek some kind of clarity and release. So, intuitively, here are the different levels of my thinking:

1. It’s just a bump. It’s all the other person’s fault. He should learn how to drive better. (Not a very empowering way to look at this).
2. Cars can signify goals and getting places. Is the bump a way of slowing me down and making me reassess the path I’m on? (Could be helpful to take some time to reflect and improve self-awareness and alter my road, if necessary).
3. The bump was on the right-hand side of the car. The right represents the masculine. Which part of me is the bump targeting? Which masculine energetic part of me is the bump making me slow down to consider? I’ll have to reflect more on this one, but it’s one to stick with.
4. What quality has manifested as a result of the bump? If I’m being honest, the whole debacle has been a lesson in patience. Perhaps the ‘accident’ will teach me to leave the house earlier and not rush down a crowded road full of other people in a rush, waiting to bump and shout at me. (Yes, patience isn’t a quality I have in abundance, so this insight has deep meaning for me).
5. I should be more mindful of everyone around me instead of always being head down to chase deadlines. Perhaps the bump was a reminder of how precious life is and how we can’t take things for granted mindlessly. The bump brought me straight back into the present and I’ve been driving oh-so-carefully all day. The car, as a representation of my conscious self in this world, has just been brought back into sharp focus. My attention is now revved.

Points 4 and 5 have the most resonance for me. Perhaps this tiny little knock on my car was a wake-up call, bringing me back to the moment. For other meanings, I’ll let them meander into my head next time I’m on a long drive (as ideas usually do when I’m nowhere near a pen to write them down).

I can already feel that the act of letting the ideas flow through my fingertips has restored me to some kind of dignity, and the bump no longer has its insidious grip on me. Perhaps it was no accident after all.