I have always believed that life follows one of the ideas within chaos theory, the idea that a butterfly can flutter its wings in one place, and this can cause a tornado in another place at some later point. This is another way of saying that all things are linked.

 

I was thinking about something that Nicoletta said to me, that maybe if she had chosen a career in art, that she would be wealthy by now. Instead, when the time had come to choose, she chose a more “serious” area of study, because it offered a secure career path.

 

I don’t know if Nicoletta would now be wealthy if she had become an artist. It could well be that she would have been highly successful in art, she is full of artistic talent, or it could be that she would have lost her love of art, as it became work more than play. There is no way of knowing – although it’s fun to imagine.

 

One thing that I am sure of is that the butterfly effect would always have been there influencing Nicoletta’s life, as it influences everyone’s life.

 

Every choice we make and every action we take brings us to alternate paths and we have choices to make all the time, every hour of every day – should I do this or should I do that, follow this path or that path?

A hundred million steps and a hundred million decisions brought me to Nicoletta’s door on that day. One step made differently by me or by Nicoletta would have led us along different paths which would not have crossed at the same time and in the same way.

 

Today Nicoletta introduced me to a line in a poem by Pablo Neruda;

 

“I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees”.

 

It made me think again about the Butterfly Effect, about the way that chance and seemingly unimportant decisions play such a significant part in the things that happen to us. It made me think again about how important it is to have people in our lives who nurture our dreams and plans.

 

I think that a butterfly fluttered its wings and eventually, at another time and in another place, I arrived at Nicoletta’s door, so that I could do for her what spring does with the cherry trees – help her and support her to blossom into the person she dreams of becoming.