Considerations of This Future. This Future. This Future.

It is easy to look back into the past and imagine a single moment, that if only changed slightly, would result in a present that is drastically different in some way. This is a thought process in line with the Butterfly Effect, where a tiny change results in drastically new outcomes.

While I believe that it is possible for small changes to echo and bang off of the boundaries of time -- sprinting forward to become ubiquitous in all that there is to observe -- I think that we, as people, do not change with small influences of our environment. I think we try to pawn off who we hope to be onto actions that could or could not have taken place.

"If only I had given that woman my number..."

"If only I had decided to visit the ocean last weekend..."

"If only..."

In these single actions we create a narrative of a turning point that could have caused us to become someone different. But these moments are not turning points. They are small deviations that lead us back to the exact same present (with possibly some better stories sprinkled in). We crash and bounce in a wave towards the future, with opportunity after opportunity presented to define who we are, and it is through The Self that makes the decisions, not the individual decisions themselves, that bring us to the present. It is not mastery to look back and consider who we could have been, but mastery to look forward with an understanding of the past deciding who we will be.

All posted photos of this project are credited to Joe Iano. You can visit more of his work at www.ianophotography.com. I encourage you to do so.