The dictionary tells me that “connect the dots” can be used as a metaphor to illustrate an ability (or inability) to associate one idea with another, to find the “big picture”, or salient feature, in a mass of data.

One of the most famous quotes in this regard came from Steve Jobs, who claimed: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path.”

I guess he, too, was caught in our eternal, psychologically driven search for meaning, since it is too hard to give in to a vision of pure coincidence.

I want to do the opposite this week – instead of focussing on the big picture, I want to draw attention to the little details, particularly as they exist in nature, where they are often overlooked.  Random dots, beautifully configured in my eyes. And non-randomly linked to insights by various thinkers.