Causes and Reasons

Things that cause things to happen seem interesting to artists. We often call it chance or serendipity. However, in order to find meaning in this causality we would need to examine if the thing that causes the thing always does so. This leads to a system. Some reject the possibility of statistical likelihood (that the thing always causes the other thing to happen), because they prefer not to know the outcome. This also involves belief in an original cause that needs to be recovered in order to understand why we do what we do. (in psychoanalysis only a qualified specialist can help decode the cause) However, causes do not have motives or intentions, since we have no control over them.
Reasons, on the other hand, make us accountable for our actions as artists. If we have a reason for doing something, we can be asked why we did the thing. If we act with intention then we know what motivated us in the first place. Intention may be seen as an honest attempt to make a decision. This decision is made by the individual and results in action.
I am writing this because there was a good deal of discussion about terms such as identity/mask and chance. I wonder about their use, since often they appear as statements of unease, of not knowing, of failing to assume responsibility. It is as if we would always be blamed for making a decision.
This affects your relationship with your work. Maybe it is easier to say that something happened by chance, that something caused a thing to happen (in your work). You are not responsible. You are not to blame if it was the wrong decision (since you made none). However if you do not cause something to happen through your decision, how can you describe the result as your work? As an artist, are you simply the recipient of causes that befall your work? In any event, the decision not to make a choice is still a decision, it still has a motive.
To act on your work for a reason, with an intention in mind makes you accountable. You may be confused about your reasons, or you may deliberately mislead your audience as to your reasons, but if all your reasons are insincere then there is no point to a discussion, as your audience will mistrust your motives and actions.
The point is, we can all argue with someone who tells us of a reason for their action that does not make sense to us. Therefore statements such as 'it happened to me' and 'I made it happen' are oppositional. There is much we cannot determine around us or in our own lives. However though not all reasons are reasonable, it is reasonable to assume that you do what you do for a reason (in your work). Reasons are also choices. They allow you to select your options whenever you come to a crossroads; often we select the choices of others who have gone before us. You may argue, that choosing a particular direction because an artist you admire has taken this direction before you, might weaken your choice - that the choice is made for you. However, this simply means that you are better informed about the choices available for you. Is it not interesting to be able to make informed choices?
Anyway, to work, as actions speak louder than words, unless the words are extremely large (because then they are obviously intended as an artwork).