Deer Karma

Who is to say that any occurrence in one's life is about karma? Is one prone
to quantify an experience as bad or good karma? And if so, how does one know? A negative experience can be good if you learn from it and a good experience can easily go south - so would that be good? We live in the gray tones and it is our inner responses that bring definition and growth to our being.


Coming back home from a parental visit a little after six o'clock, I was travelling down a major highway with mild traffic. I know that mild is almost impossible to say as traffic can be sparse, but Massachusetts is infamous regarding drivers' skills and common courtesy. 


Quite off guard, I saw to my right on my passenger side, the image of a deer
frozen in time and space. I had no time to react - just a thump on the right side of the car and the departure of my side mirror. Actually, what was left of
it was bouncing off the side of the passenger door attached only by the electrical cord. It didn't seem to be a big bump. And it was too dark to stop and see anything. I thought I might have temporarily stunned this deer.


So the damage inspection waited for the following morning. Indeed, the
remnants of the mirror were hanging off the side of the mirror attachment.
But there was a dent on the support for the windshield. So the just a thump
was a bit more than it sounded. I was safe. I believe the deer was safe, well
it might have needed a nose job or some dental attention. There was no blood anywhere. I wondered what my neighbors thought as they rise much earlier than I. So off to the repair shop when the new mirror arrives and some unexpected expense.


So what about the karma? If I truly believe that I live in the gray tones of life, I have no need to channel this as good or bad karma, just life unfolding as it does. No one is blessed with good or bad karma; we are blessed with the
experience of living. Too much effort is expended deciding the extremes
of all that happens to us. I want to concentrate on just being. I think the deer would agree.


R