All About You FRIDAY – Journey into Jigsaw Puzzles

A few months ago, I moved a new piece of furniture into the living room that greets me every evening. A puzzle table. Well, it’s really a card table with a piece of hardboard on top. I walk in and stare at it and immediately my brain shifts. I feel my mind relax as it activates in a different mode. The puzzle table has become a place where I’ve honed a new skill, had conversations that otherwise wouldn’t happen, where life slowed down and devices were set aside and where commercials on TV don’t bug me anymore. And it is where love is shown because I always get the sweet satisfaction of always placing the last piece. I am a lucky girl in many ways.

Who knew that the 1767 invention by English cartographer, John Spilsbury, would have such an impact on our home? For us, it all started with a 230 piece wooden puzzle bearing the logo of the best team in the English Premiere League.

Then we tackled our first 1000 piece puzzle by Kodak. I will never see fruits and vegetables the same way again. But I was hooked.

I went on the hunt to see where I could find the largest selection of puzzles and found that Barnes and Noble has converted over half of their music section into jigsaw puzzle heaven. So I did what any thriving puzzler would do, I went in to buy one and came out with four.

I found this YouTube channel featuring a young woman named Karen Puzzles. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t her original last name, but I will say the second best thing to doing a puzzle is watching someone else do it sped up. Did you know there are national and world champion competitions for speed puzzling?! I need to chill out or I will find myself booking a flight to hang with some of “my people”. You know…the friends you’ve never met but feel immediately at home with because you know they just “get you”. I felt it the first time I stepped foot into MacWorld in 2007. Karen Puzzles and I could be besties.

And did you know you could do THIS with a puzzle?!

I learned this trick by watching the Jigsaw Puzzle World Championships. You can actually pick up a 1,000 piece puzzle without glueing it. Who knew?! This is the first time I did it and I was so delighted my eyes disappeared because I was smiling so big. I now do it with every puzzle we complete. A little celebration. You know how I like celebrating.

And then after appreciating the puzzle for a couple of days, there is the sweet satisfaction of crumbling it up and placing it back in the box for someone else to solve. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.

I know summer is coming and soon activities will move outdoors, but the puzzle table will patiently wait for whenever you have a minute or a few hours to spend with it…like a faithful friend.

I’ll leave you with a pictorial series of our some of our puzzling conquests. Maybe it will inspire you to start a puzzle tradition of your own. It could make you smarter. Clear your mind and get rid of stress. Make space for conversations that otherwise might not be had. And make you feel like a magician when you suspend a thousand pieces in midair without having it fall apart.

It’s been a long week and I’m sure you’ve helped a lot of people. Welcome to Friday…don’t forget to celebrate.