Santa Claus brought me a puzzle in my stocking this year. He was very thoughtful and chose a puzzle that “potentially”, my girls and I could do together. Potentially being the operative word in that sentence!
It was all very exciting to spill out the 1000 little pieces onto the table and when I told them that the first step, in putting together a puzzle this size, was to turn over all of the pieces. It was at that moment that their level of excitement depleted substantially. However they stuck with me for the first little bit, turning over a piece or two but were more interested in getting to the work of putting it together straight away. It wasn’t long afterwards that I was left with the tedious task of piece turning solo, after all Santa had given me the puzzle not them, I believe one of them mentioned.
There I was, all1000 little pieces turned over staring back at me, and me holding a cup of tea in one hand and the empty box for picture reference in the other. Where do you begin?
I could do the edge first, this way the boundaries are set and you can work from the outside in; or find the obvious: sort pieces of colors and the ones that you can put together and build from the inside out.
I began to notice that despite staring at a sea of 1000 pieces there were the ones that became familiar, and that not only individual pieces but clusters of pieces began to hold familiarity.
I became aware of how there were times that I picked up a piece for no particular reason and it worked…ahh intuitive puzzle style. And there were other times when I was certain that the piece I chose was the right one, and I even tried to force it, negotiate with it and cajole it into being the one but it never was.
Once I had successfully put together sections I looked for the pieces that joined them together, and when that wasn’t working the setback made my feeling of success dip; then once I decided to focus on another section or area my attitude shifted and I was going forward.
This blog entry isn’t the top 10 tips on successful puzzle putting-together, rather it’s about how I learnt that the process of putting together a jig saw puzzle is amazing similar to both problem solving and idea formulation!
When faced with an idea or problem how do you tackle it? Do you create boundaries within to work or do you work with the guts of the idea and build from the inside out until you have a better sense of the limits?
When the idea or problem is in 1000 pieces where do you begin? Looking at the 1000 pieces can be daunting and trying to keep the image in your mind of the successfully finished product is tough. However, when we accept that each of those pieces individually may seem arbitrary on their own; they are significant in the big picture.
The puzzle box was a constant reminder of what the end result would be, it didn’t matter how I got there, but in the end it was exactly as it should be.
Presently I’m gestating an idea, I’m a work from the inside out on this one. And just as I did with the puzzle I find myself shifting my focus on the idea when something just isn’t fitting. The wisdom of the jig saw has made me appreciate the process and I’m trusting that in the end the pieces I’m sorting right now will make the big picture…exactly as it should be!
With Grateful Ch’i
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