I’ve been hanging out with my mom the past couple weeks. I spent a few days at her place in Albuquerque, then we went up to Breckenridge, Colorado for two weeks. During that time, I’ve worked on a number of puzzles, both crossword and jigsaw. Puzzling is one of the things we enjoy doing together and always have.
Scientifically, there are good reasons for that. Working a jigsaw puzzle provides multiple benefits, including improving short-term memory and visual-spatial reasoning and providing stress relief (though some of my friends would beg to disagree on that one!). Crossword puzzles increase my vocabulary—and my sense of irony when I disagree with the connections a puzzle creator tries to make! While I know not everyone enjoys puzzling, I’ve found them addictive enough that I will not put out a puzzle at home—because it would be a distractive temptation that might keep me from getting my work done!
I also see puzzle images elsewhere in life. There are the jigsaw puzzle-shaped pieces of Ponderosa pine bark that I highlighted recently. I sometimes find clients’ writing puzzling and (usually!) enjoy the process of figuring out the meaning and offering clearer solutions. This past week, I basically gave my Instagram followers a series of puzzles, inviting them to see faces in various photos of wood.
I also realize that life can be a puzzle that isn’t so easy to solve—as many who live with mysterious medical ailments would tell us! Yet if we bring a puzzling mindset to the challenges we face, it can sometimes be easier to maintain a curious and contemplative stance that can open us to broader understanding and creative solutions.
Then there are the inherent paradoxes and mysteries that come with learning, growing, and aging. They are not as easily addressed, and they don’t always need solving. For example, we sometimes need to acknowledge that God is a puzzling entity beyond our capacity to define or control. When we can let go of the need for certainty, we can relax and watch for the gifts that come from simply being alive and bearing witness to the infinite beauty of creation. I find that’s sometimes easier to do when I must pay close attention to the shapes and colors of puzzle pieces!
What is your relationship with puzzles and puzzling?
It can develop patience and trust that I (you) will figure “it” out.
So very true Sally! Thank you.
Peace,
Shirin
Peace to you, too, Shirin! 💕
Thank you, Sally!
I, too, like to work puzzles. And I agree with you about jigsaw puzzles. If I had one out on a table, it would take up all the time in which I “should” be doing something more productive. Fortunately, a crossword or the cryptoquip take up a lot less time (and space!) than a jigsaw. But I wish I still had the one of the Santuario de Chimayo in northern New Mexico. It was beautiful!
Oh, Aston, a puzzle of the Santuario de Chimayo does sound lovely! I’ve completed some amazing puzzles–and been grateful for the opportunity to immerse myself in the scenes more closely and notice things I would have otherwise missed….
Peace,
Shirin