Delayed Gratification

 

As a child, there was frequently a jigsaw puzzle on the coffee table and while watching tv or just wanting something to do (especially in the winter) we were encouraged to sit on the floor and work on the puzzle du jour.

I know a lot of people think making a jigsaw puzzle is a waste of time, and on the surface I can see how they might think that.

But puzzles challenge a child to begin to recognize shapes, analyze a piece, examine what has been built to see if they can find a match, hones their eye to recognize tiny changes in colour/shape, or follow a line, grouping like with like.  There are many reasons building puzzles are good for human development, including developing fine motor skills.

I credit my early (and continuing) building of puzzles for developing an eye for detail, something that has been extremely helpful in my weaving, especially for picking out errors!

I make puzzles because it engages me on a creative level.  I bring order out of chaos - not a bad feeling these days.  I work on a puzzle at my own pace, in my own time, as I feel like doing it.  It doesn't have an end date, or an expiry date and I can take it apart and put it away and make it again a few months/years down the road.  Or trade them with others who also enjoy making them.

It's the perfect activity for an introvert...just saying...

As an adult I put puzzles away because they were a distraction and the only logical place to make one was on the dining room table.  Which was frequently needed for other things.  (No, not eating - fringe twisting, tagging, shipping!)

Then I became friends with the neighbour across the street - who also loved jigsaw puzzles.  Their family made puzzles from Xmas day until the end of Feb or mid-March - a winter activity.  And I began to make puzzles again, with her.  When she died in 2016, I no longer had a coffee/puzzle making buddy, and I decided to start making puzzles by myself.

From time to time I would clear the table off and set out the board Doug made for me, which can be picked up and moved if we should need the table for something else, without my having to take apart the current puzzle.

During the pandemic, and my latest spate of health issues, I've been making puzzles more frequently.  They don't tax me physically, keep me engaged mentally, and when I fiddle with the colourful pieces, I tend to put any worrying thoughts out of my mind.  When I don't feel like I can absorb anything by reading, I can just go zen with a puzzle.

Making puzzles is a lot like weaving.  You know the end result you desire (the photo on the box), you sort through the variables (the pieces) and you begin to match them up until after a while, you have reached the 'end'.   The picture is complete.  You're done.  Move on to the next.

Exactly like weaving, actually.