The Little Stuff

My dad used to always say, "The devil's in the details."

For a long time, I didn't really know what that meant. My take on it now is that you can have great ideas and grand schemes, but you won't be able to pull off your quest if you don't pay attention to the step-by-steps, the ins and the outs. The details.

Me? I'm extremely detail oriented. I suppose that's a dead giveaway if you look at my photos. I thrive on the macro, the minute. To me, it's the details that make a thing lovely. The unique bits. The things that may not be seen at first glance.

The bad part about being a detail person is that sometimes I forget to pull back far enough to see the big picture. Or sometimes that big picture looks so overwhelming that I'm too timid to take a first step. I prefer to have all the steps lined up before I walk forward. Once started, I get wrapped up in the details. That being said, the things I complete are usually well executed.

The thing is, some things don't deserve the time and attention I try to give them. Sometimes, it's OK to do an average job instead of an exceptional one.

The trick is learning which is which and finding a balance. The world won't fall apart if details are not attended to. Yet in the proper time and place, it is creativity mixed with attention to detail that forms the exquisite.