The Butterfly Effect on Medium
Your words could profoundly change someone’s life.
The Butterfly Effect is a term from mathematical chaos theory where a small effect in one system can affect large changes in another. In practical terms, it can be a small act of kindness to a stranger that changes their lives forever. You can find those stories right here on Medium.
I’ve only been a member of Medium for a few weeks. What I’ve already come to appreciate is the immense power of words and connection that can be found in this community.
When I have the time, I read and respond to every comment I receive in my stories. Sometimes I’m inspired and curious to find out more about who these people are. I read their profiles and their stories. I begin to wonder and appreciate how our words could create a butterfly effect in someone else’s life.
It’s such a powerful feeling that arose from this interaction with readers. In my mind, Medium transformed from a simple writing platform to a world where people cared about each other. Our words help each other to evolve and transform each other’s lives. It’s a community where there is a freedom to be vulnerable and we let others see who we truly are. I’m so incredibly honored, inspired and moved by the vulnerability of the stories I’ve read.
The Butterfly Touched Me
I see the Butterfly Effect as a beautiful infinite tree that started off as one seed. The seed is fertilized with love. And as the tree grows, infinite branches blossom as each human profoundly affects another human.
It wasn’t long after reading my comments that I felt the breeze of gentle butterfly wings stirring my life. It was three readers that caught my attention and inspired me to write this story. Their three stories swirled into one symphony of synchronicity.
The Three of Us Were Beaten, But We Evolved
Uwem Daniels commented on my story and I remembered that we both write for The Orange Journal. His story entitled,”I Danced With My Father’s Belt” is the powerful story of Uwem being beaten by his father as a form of discipline. I felt honored that he would let me see such a vulnerable part of his life. I could feel my body trembling with a familiar fear as I read his story. I felt it as clearly as if I were him. I took a deep breath and I could feel a kindred bond.
That’s because I had the same experience.
My mother and father beat me with leather belts, ping pong bats, and wooden spoons as their choice of weapons. But my father was taught to be that way. His mother had the idea to make him the enforcer of the 12 children in their family. He was issued a wooden cane and was told to beat his siblings whenever his mother issued the command. Not only did his siblings hate him for it but my father was later diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. How could it have turned out any differently for that innocent child?
It’s father’s day today and if not for Uwem’s story I wouldn’t have had a thought about my father today. After my mother died, he disowned us kids and we have no idea where he is or how to contact him. He never had friends and now he doesn’t have family. That’s a lot of pain and suffering that came from one mother’s bad idea.
There are no villains in this world, just thoughts and ideas that perpetuate harm through the generations. You can hate the ideas that caused all the hurt. But always love the child because every child is innocent.
Moving Past Our Conditions
This is the third person in this tale of beating and forgiveness. It’s the true story of Agnes Furey who forgave Leonord Scovens for killing her daughter and grandson. They’ve written a book together titled,”Wildflowers in the Median: A Restorative Journey Into Healing, Justice, and Joy”.
Agnes was able to see past Leonord’s condition that landed him in jail for double murder. But it’s also the story of the harm that comes from harmful ideas passed through generations. I cry every time I watch it.
A Reminder of the Beauty of Childhood
What are the odds that on the same day that I read Uwem’s story, I find Cheri’s story about the innocence of our childhoods. Cheri Elkin, is one of my readers and she wrote,”My Inner Child”.
Her comment to me was,“Thank you so much for this powerful inspiring and insightful story. You are right about affecting just one person, two, three. Writing is all about connecting. We never know whose life we might impact.”
It was this particular comment that inspired me to write this story. Perhaps this is the beginning of the butterfly effect. Her words inspire me to write a story. Then hopefully my story inspires others to inspire others. And more branches blossom.
Cheri reminded me that my inner child is very alive. It’s innocent and it wants to see the good in life. It wants to see beauty even in the muddy waters. My inner child is so powerful because it has imagination. That imagination can rewrite sad stories into joyful fairy tales.
Cheri writes so vividly (as does Uwem) and I could smell, taste, hear and see everything she described. She had such a beautiful childhood. I closed my eyes and took parts of her story and made them mine. Anything is possible in the mind of a child.
But my inner child also remembers that I had a great childhood filled with wonderful friends and adventures. I also laughed with my parents at home and that’s where I developed my sense of humor. There are many things to be grateful for. They gave me food, shelter and their best version of love. I’m able to write this story because of them. It’s the Butterfly Effect.
We Don’t Know a Person’s Story
I’ve saved the best for last. This is not about blue skies shining down on blue flax in a mountain meadow. It’s about how we deal with darkness. It’s about a test of what I learned from Uwem and Cheri. Did I really learn anything from these two people? The universe wanted to know.
Lorens Zharkou posted this comment to my story, “Honestly, this post looks like a simple personal promo, even not a 3rd party promotes this. How long you’ve been diving in writing communities for?”
I had 43 supportive comments and this one. I was so tempted to simply ignore him and that’s what I did for an hour. But I knew there was a different story beneath his words. So I read his profile and the first story that he wrote, “Mirroring or Momentum are These Words Familiar to You”.
He writes,”And I made it… I found myself completely broken down by pieces in a complete isolation from people, slowly rotting in the dark with a need to build myself from scratch. Those parts of me were mirrored, like in a bad trip, but without any drugs or drinks.I understood what’s happening to my brain & body — I was dying indeed.”
I don’t know or pretend to understand Lorens’ journey that led him to that dark place. What I do know is that my heart feels his pain. I know that he is like all of us. No one escapes childhood trauma. We just have varying degrees of it.
A Recipe for Noodle Salad
In the movie, “As Good as it Gets”, Jack Nicholson’s character says,”Some of us have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. Just no one in this car. But a lot of people, that’s their story. Good times, noodle salad.”
We don’t all start off with noodle salad, but it’s our journey back to our innocence that counts. It’s the people along the way that lend you a helping hand and inspire you to evolve. Uwem, Cheri and Lorens were my butterflies today.
They reminded me of forgiveness, innocence and compassion. They helped me to evolve a little further than yesterday. Maybe we can all learn to look past someone’s condition and to see their inner child.
Maybe we can all find some noodle salad on Medium.
Maybe you’re inspired to create words that can release your butterfly and touch someone’s life for the better.
Just maybe …
It’s Father’s day today. I’m going to sit down for a bowl of noodle salad. Not the metaphorical type. No, it’s a real, delicious noodle salad.
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