Of Moment

All the pieces of the puzzle are on the table. The box lid claims 1000 pieces! The photo cover is interesting but complex, intensely so. Confidence runs high, however; I can put this puzzle together. And then I begin.

First colors are grouped. Then flat sided pieces are set aside in the hope they are edge pieces. These are then grouped in part with colors akin to them. Glances toward the lid cover and its photo are often; sometimes furtive. I can do this!

Shapes are next for sorting, but that rarely works; we don’t know the orientation of the pieces yet; are they vertical or horizontal; do we even have them right side up? And so it goes. Sorting and moving pieces around on the table.

A glance out the window shows it is still raining and gloomy. Best to remain indoors and continue work on the puzzle.

A quick trip to the refrigerator for a cool drink. Occasionally a snack is withdrawn and brought to the puzzle's side. We gaze and scan; scan and gaze. Every now and then two pieces click together. Then a few seem missorted and I move them to yet another grouping.

Eventually a moment of clarity dawns and three pieces are firmly joined. Together they still make no sense in the overall scheme of the puzzle but their shapes fit and for now that is all that matters.

Another moment and another piece fits.

A phone call provides interlude and refreshment of mind. Back to the puzzle. I can do this! And quickly four or five pieces fit together. Only 900 pieces to go…

A hint of something beckons. A thread of logic peeks through the rubble of pieces. Do I have a clue to the overall solution? Can it be that I spotted something? And then it is gone. The thread no longer remains active in the mind and I have lost it.

Back to the pieces.

And then it comes again – the thread – the clue that seems to connect many of the pieces together somehow. I see it again, and there it is. A faint coloration paints the pieces in a way that now makes more sense. Background color becomes more distinct from foreground details. And the picture begins to make a thin but ghostly sense.

Four or five pieces now go together quickly in groupings scattered all over the puzzle. Soon larger groupings begin to place themselves distinctly together. I move them into their proper position. The box lid photo is slowly taking shape on the table. Now only 700 pieces remain. Logic is rearranging the disconnected from the connected pieces. The mosaic moves from blur to focused patches. I can do this!

600 pieces left and we have pretty much the outline of the whole thing. Growing sections of the puzzle are taking their places. The picture is now making some sense. More clues are emerging.

Moments are adding to others and thoughts are forming. Pieces fit more readily now.

400 pieces left. Time for a break. Some fresh air on the porch. Still raining. Still gloomy. Still more hospitable indoors than out. A return to the puzzle with a fresh drink and more snacks. The puzzle from 8 feet away looks different than when sitting close. Structure, relationship, logic of the puzzle comes bit by bit, moment by moment.

Moments give us clues, not solutions. They meld jarringly at first and then more harmoniously. Their patterns become more obvious bit by bit.

Soon we are down to 100 pieces left to find homes for. This is doable to the max. yes, I can do this! And then we are down to 8 pieces and those are damnably slow to fuse into focus.

Twenty minutes later it is done. Now no longer a threat or a challenge. I did it. And without any help. The moments added up to a solution. All I had to do was give it time and focus. Patience and focus.

What other puzzles remain in life that can benefit from this patience and focus?

April 21, 2017