“The soul has no secret that the behavior does not reveal”

Lao Tzu

During this COVID-19 pandemic, I have had time to do something I haven’t really done since I was a teenager; watch lots of TV! While binge watching the show Ozarks and retightening my sisterlocs, I watched a scene where Marty talked about the butterfly effect. Then I remembered the movie, The Butterfly Effect and my mind started to wander…

Conceptually, the Butterfly Effect is when a small change in, “one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state”. In other words, small causes may have momentous effects. The example most highlighted was that a butterfly flapping its wings could cause a tornado.

I began to think of small decisions or causes that have made momentous effects in my future; writing a social media post about the ancestors, posting a selfie with a caption about wolves, actively responding to a inbox message from one man, while overlooking another, or reading a particular book. All these singular, seemingly innocent, and perhaps insignificant events have completely changed the trajectory of my life. I can reflect and identify the butterfly effect in my life. And now, I understand what may seem to be an innocent, normal, or unsuspecting routine act or action has the potential to monumentally change my future.

Life is so beautiful. We are not innocent bystanders or unsuspecting civilian casualties of this sometimes war zone we call life. We are not the mere victims of fate or puppets on God’s string. We have the ability to create and manifest. We have the power to precipitate radical change in our lives. We must ask ourselves what small cause today will result in large effects for our future?