As a coping mechanism, former stay-at-home mother Tina Krebs used photography as a release from the physical and emotional trauma she was enduring at the time, by the hands of her ex-husband. 

Krebs had been sexually assaulted and domestically abused during this previous relationship, and was desperate to find a release for not only herself, but her two children. 

She soon discovered that she had a true passion for photography and wanted to pursue that calling. After this decision, Krebs created her own business, named “Unique Photo Innovations” and was publicly recognized for her work.

The attention she had been receiving for her business encouraged Tina Krebs to tell the story of her trauma. Her story moved many people emotionally, and opened the opportunity to write a chapter on it in the book, Lemonade Legends. The book grasped even more recognition from the public. 

Today, she attends interviews and has work that is spread world wide, to bring awareness to these sensitive topics. All of this happened after the small decision to take a chance at photography, an example of the butterfly effect. 

The butterfly effect is the phenomenon that small decisions can change people’s entire lives. Its concept is inspired by the idea that a butterfly fluttering its wings on one side of the world can create a chain of events that lead to a typhoon on the other side.

The butterfly that is alluded to in the “butterfly effect” is a metaphor that symbolizes a small change that may grow overtime into a different, larger outcome. These outcomes can be positive or negative, and have no limitations to their effects in ones’ life. A butterfly effect, when observed closely long after a small change, grows and adapts into a result indistinguishable in comparison, hence a typhoon.  

When sophomore Faith Boring made the decision to leave her father, her mental health immediately improved. Boring emphasizes that “when I left my dad, my mental health suddenly got better, I was productive, organized, basically [it] just made my life better.”

From this seemingly small decision to part ways, Boring was able to focus on healing from her past and was able to put more attention into her schoolwork, and positively fixate on her other relationships. Boring developed more healthy ways to cope with stress. This example of the butterfly effect shows how one decision can change a person’s life.

Although it’s important to realize that not every decision creates a butterfly effect, there are always times to look back and see how parts of our life kept unraveling, from effortless or unconscious decisions. Butterfly effects can only be seen after a long period of time, and never anticipated.

When life is going in the wrong direction, keep persisting, because you never know what small adjustment you will make that can flip your world back around.