“Is A Puzzlement”… Developing new paradigms to solve life’s changing games boards

The song “A Puzzlement” from the 1956 musical The King and I, by Rogers and Hammerstein came to mind as we both stretched our problem-solving skills and patience while solving a puzzle.   Some of the more resonant lines from the song sung by Yul Brynner…

“World have change a lot:
Some things nearly so,
Others nearly not.
Very often find confusion
In conclusion I concluded long ago.”

As we began dreaming and planning for all the new experiences our NGA (Next Grand Adventure) would offer, we considered new and novel types of entertainment and hobbies (at least to us!). Shortly before selling our home, we found a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle in the shape of the United States. Seemed to us like a representation of our adventure as well as entertainment for the long winter evenings ahead.

Only thing is, we had never really done jigsaw puzzles together – much less a complex and intentionally tricky challenge like this one presented (i.e. no straight edges, dozens of small scenes, etc.)

It’s taken us a month of patiently and meticulously scouring the hundreds of pieces on the table to complete our puzzle. As Johnny Cash sang so gloriously and hilariously, it was truly ‘One Piece at a Time!’   Akin to a much earlier analogy from the line from an ancient tome by Lao Tzu, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” 

And, we learned a lot about ourselves and each other along the way. Jerry is an accomplished Lego builder, so he’s used to looking at small parts and ‘seeing’ the big picture. However, Phyllis’ brain was wired more toward the love of detail (she actually was trained as a forensic accountant in one of her previous lives before becoming a coach) It allowed her to find granular connections while Jerry began to enjoy the relaxation of the slow progress and how it all fit together.

We learned that we team up well together. Each of us was genuinely happy for the other when a piece was placed, and we assisted one another with ideas rather than having critical commentaries about the other’s style. We didn’t know enough about doing puzzles to know that we would learn about how to work together as we had fun together.

Lessons Learned… from our jigsaw puzzling adventure…

•  Patience & persistence… “Ah-Ha” moments often happen in between your focused efforts – we found that taking numerous breaks allowed our brains to process all the pieces better than grunting it out at the table!

• Teamwork DOES make the dream work… solo problems solving limits new perspectives and approaches – often we able to place pieces quickly by switching chairs at the table every 10 minutes or so.

• Don’t assume… non-traditional challenges require a more open and less rote approach to problem solving – the puzzle pieces and colors were deceptively similar, and much like life, we often  needed to  take a deep breath and let go of how we thought each piece should fit!

Soo, we're interested as to what hobbies or interests keep you “in the game of life?" We're open to all suggestions for the next grand adventure!