Considering how much I enjoy things made of bits of things – faces made of pictures of faces, cats made of pebbles, Frida Kahlo made of buttons – one might think I’d naturally be drawn to puzzles. I’ve taken note of the puzzles my youngest daughter and my oldest friend (92) are always in the middle of, but until now, felt it seemed too tedious, too frustrating
But the last four years have thrown so many curve balls that my primary get up and go occupation – writing and strategizing – got up and went.
January of 2019, my brother was diagnosed with a brain tumour, dying in November of that year. Of a family of six, my sis and I oldest and youngest were left. As with many a death of a critical family member, this caused a major adjustment. In the the year before his diagnosis, brother sister and I had embarked on an ill-fated effort to write about our family dynamics, centered on our brilliant but troubled sib who’d died some years before. Our parents died decades ago, and we three remaining sibs regularly expressed appreciation for eachother. However, in attempting to write book about the Kastners, as with many collaborations, this book-writing became contentious and finally ground to a halt with brother’s diagnosis.
Tho still in shock and denial, after bro’s death, in November 2019, hub and I made March 2020 plans to visit our eldest daughter, working for the UN in Switzerland. The day we left – March 10 – Milan was the epicenter of COVID19, which still seemed too far away to affect us. However, by the time we left Switzerland – a week later airports were shutting down behind us. Little did we (or anyone) anticipate just how much of a disaster the future would bring
Back home, quarantine seemed a perfect respite from the stresses of dying, death and travel. This was not to last: within a month, our across-mutual-drive neighbour’s house burned down, and almost took ours with it – melting our Jeep in the driveway. Briefly, comic relief came when a dozen fit firefighters brought out all the single women on the street.
What followed was months of ashes and debris blowing over that same mutual drive, destroying much of my carefully nurtured English garden. Removal of the burnt-out chunks was delayed by the investigation.
The fire spooked us. As the housing market was showing no signs of cooling, we decided to take the renovations as a cue to put the house on the market, aiming for a Spring 2021 which, as it turned out, was how long it took to repair the damage.
The year was dedicated to clearing out thirty six years worth of living. Negotiating through winnowing, organizing child rearing, and creating an international television network all out of said same house. Tension and anxiety ran high, with the added stress of a 100 year old father/father-in-law in isolation. Sell we did, with stagers arriving while paint job was still drying. Next step was finding digs. We opted for a year’s breather: renting a furnished house in the East end – moving as far from the West end as we could.
It felt a new lease on life. I decided the it was time to work on my (second) book. Nope. My brain was having none of it. But, I most definitely needed something purposeful and so, tentatively, dubiously, I took my time finding The Right Puzzle for my first.
Vibrant colors are my thing: my COVID masks are all brightly hued Indigenous designs from a neighborhood store appropriately called Inspire. And there, I found my thrill in a design by Daphne Odjig, Potawatomi artist, ‘And some watched the sunset.’ This sunset held great swathes of of blues and greens, with vibrant red, pink, purple and blue-black. I was enchanted. Which is not to say that when it arrived, I wasn’t immediately daunted. Why did I pick, as my first, a thousand pieces. Why didn’t I check the finished size – almost 20 by 30 inches – rather than assuming I’d have a finished piece the same size as the box it came in.
But the day came that I opened the plastic bag of puzzle pieces, dumped them out and began. ‘Start with the frame’, my puzzler daughter directed. ‘put like colours together’, suggested my husband. With these starting strategies, I began.
And as I’ve worked through it, epiphanies abound. Concentrating, it’s felt almost meditative. The unexpected sense of accomplishment, when that satisfying ‘click’ of the right fit. For me, every time is cause for celebration. That’s 1000 small celebrations.
As the beauty of the art unfolds and spreads out in front of me, I appreciate the bands, the swirls, the almost imperceptible color striations, the sense of movement and energy. I am transported into this sunset, the stylized ‘watching’ figures reveal themselves only as I find the right combination. This connection with Nature, as portrayed through Indigenous artist eye, inspires me to pay more attention when I’m walking my new hood. These senses awakening caused me to do some research and lo, I found that puzzling has a range of benefits.
From the website, CronicasPuzzleras
Doing puzzles can be considered a complete brain exercise since it exercises both the right and left sides
Dopamine is released every time we do a puzzle and even every time we put a piece in the right place. This encourages us to continue to do so and challenge ourselves.
Better Visual-Spatial Reasoning
To assemble a puzzle we see different pieces and we must place them within a larger image. Doing this exercise regularly helps us improve our spatial reasoning.
Greater Attention to Detail When we are more detailed and precise, the quality of our work improves.
Improve memory
Strengthens neural connections and increases the generation of new connections. This increases mental speed and thought processes.
Dr. Susanne Jäggi, University of Michigan found that spending 25 minutes a day solving puzzles and riddles can raise your IQ by 4 points.
Improve problem solving ability
To solve the puzzles you take different approaches to try to solve a problem, since it is a trial and error test. You also learn the value of formulating theories, testing hypotheses, and changing your perspectives when something doesn’t go as planned.
Increased productivity
Decrease stress level
When you are happier and less stressed, it is easier to focus.
These findings make real my own reactions.
I’ve built from the bottom up – from the ground to the pink sunset that punctures the horizon (reminding me: red sky at night, sailor’s delight)
Four graceful TeePees reach to a sky that promises bursts of blues and greens when pieces are in their proper place. Three wee watching figures – green, blue and beige – almost miss-able so small are they. There is a fourth-larger, rounder red, who seems not to be watching the sunset at all, I’d like to know more of the back-story: what’s going on there?
I started December last year: my winter project. To be completed by Spring.
But now, looking at the awaiting clouds on the picture on the box, I’m not sure I want this puzzling to end.
