Choice is something we face every day. We choose to get out of bed or we choose to skip class. We choose what to wear that day. We choose to dress cold or warm. We choose and choose and choose. 

Canadian artist Adam Lupton uses his art to travel through the depths of choice. In his collection “What’s In Store For Me In The Direction I Don’t Take,” Lupton’s pieces depict the moment before choice, a moment of pure indecisive thought.       

“These are the moments when everything is open, when all options are present, and all is undecided – mere destinies unfolding. Our choices shift into one plane of existence, the extension of every path still available, until we pick the red tie instead of the blue; harbor anger instead of compassion; attempt to fix it or break it; and all our possibilities collapse into the singular of what is, rippling outward from the moment of decision to affect our lives in ways unknown... The noise at the back of our mind wondering anxiously, ‘What’s in store for me in the direction I don’t take?,’” according to Alupton.com.      

Choice is one concept that has existed in our lives from the time we chose to play with dolls or chose to play with Legos. Though we still face nimble choices, we now face heavier choices. Should I change my major? Should I leave the country for a semester? Should I drop out of school and join the Peace Corps?   

We are in a phase of our lives when "choice" is becoming more prevalent — bigger. It’s typical for me to have the consequence vs. benefit self-deliberation when facing a choice of heaviness, a common thought process for many. This is a process I’m working on altering. Rather than focusing on the wrong vs. right, I’m focusing on commitment; I’m focusing on just choosing; I’m focusing on what that choice means to me.   

Choice is a privilege we often see as fear.  We are more ready than we think we are to decide, to consider, to reject. Choice undoubtedly brings challenge and responsibility, but this is a challenge we have the ability to overcome and untangle. It is time we get it out of our heads that choice is permanent or outlines us or our ability to make "good" choices. A "good" choice can’t be defined universally, not all choice is good for you and good for your neighbor. It’s important to see through the smoke society creates to cloud our individual aptitude to choose. Defy choice.  

Like Tina Fey once said, “Say yes and you'll figure it out afterwards."