Today I am Writing: On Puzzles

I recently remembered that at some point in my childhood, puzzles were existent enough that my dad made us a puzzle board, on which we could lay out our pieces and then move them intact, if the other surfaces were needed. I had forgotten this, but there it was, returned to me, like a missing puzzle piece of my very own life.

I recently remembered this because I recently bought a box of 12 puzzles, a family pack of scenes.

I recently bought a box of 12 puzzles because I had a dream, wherein there was a giant room that belonged to me, within which were all kinds of things left by others. Many of those things made no sense, and I was working diligently to remove them, to pack them off to the trash. Off to the side, however, stood a stack of puzzles that I had not yet had time to put together. The dream said: Now is the time.

So I got myself a box of 12 puzzles, set them out on my kitchen table, and got to work.

I learned many things from the process of putting together those puzzles. I started with what I already knew: the best way to start is to lay out the frame. But then I learned that bit by bit--and often quite slow--you have to use the clues you have. I learned that sometimes you have to work in one section only, but if you do that, one piece will lead to another piece and suddenly multiple sections have come together, momentum building to the point of nearing completion. I learned that you always need to keep the big picture in mind. And I learned that it is work to persevere in, otherwise it is not much fun. (Because who wants to do an easy puzzle?! Boring.)

Today I sit at my desk to do my thinking/reading/writing. I start with my outline, pick up where I left off last night. It leads me to have a question, and I google-scholar search it. It leads me to a book, which leads me to another book, which leads me to another. Idea upon idea, building, forming, filling in the frame. It turns out that writing a book and puzzle-putting-together is essentially the same task. And I am not surprised when the ideas and the questions reveal me to my very own self.

I think about how this book will be the big picture that I can see, now. And I can see how this book might lead to another, as I put together pieces that lead me to a bigger picture of myself, the world, and my place in it.

And I think about how my part is just one piece of a bigger story, a Greater Puzzle being worked out in time and place. I think of how we each have a piece to contribute, how it is important to steward our piece well.

I think: The Puzzle Maker sees us and says, "Here is the Gift! Persevere."

"We are here because we are born with the capacity to find the hidden light in all events and all people, to lift it up and make it visible once again and thereby to restore the innate wholeness of the world...This task is called tikkun olam in Hebrew. It's the restoration of the world.

And this is, of course, a collective task. It involves all people who have ever been born, all people presently alive, all people yet to be born. We are all healers of the world...It's not about healing the world by making a huge difference. It's about healing the world that touches you, that's around you."*

*from Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living, Krista Tippett, p. 25