Why Bother With Details?

From Leonardo da Vinci's sketchbook

From Leonardo da Vinci’s sketchbook


Sometimes details make me so bored that I dread the thought of them. I’d rather know the forest than the trees. There is so much more to experience in a diverse forest than there is staring at a single tree.
However, I also find that I benefit from knowing details. Since I know all the side roads, I can get around traffic jams on major thoroughfares. To learn how to do this, I took my handy detailed map of my city with me all the time for my first year here. Now, this map lives in my head, where it is most useful.
I also have a detailed map in my mind that charts all the bones, joints, muscles, and energetic pathways of the human body. When I am working with clients, these details make themselves known in the new ways my hands find to access or treat a particular area of distress. My hands-on work continues to evolve and change with every session I offer, as I allow my intuition to explore the details of my linear mind, and express itself through my hands.
I have grown to love studying the details of anatomy. My ability to memorize details once felt like a strange and useless ability. I have come to appreciate this skill as my work has become a type of informed intuition that combines anatomical detail with intuition. This combination continues to deepen my bodywork practice and offer better results for my clients.

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Cindy Black

Cindy Black is the Founder of Big Tree School of Natural Healing and the author of Meridian Massage, Pathways to Vitality. She is appreciated for her ability to make the complex accessible, fun, and practical.

1 Comment

  1. Karen Williams on January 19, 2011 at 5:30 pm

    I love how you explain the “details”. Some of us do have a hard time with the small, seemingly bothersome aspects of life. But each detail does eventually make up “the forest”. Thanks.

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