The following post is in praise of jigsaws, and the effect that they have on my wellbeing.
When I am doing a jigsaw my mind clears completely. Whatever is bothering me that day goes away. I don’t need music in the background as I like to hear the shuffling noise the pieces make as I sort them, that is music enough for me.
Although I don’t really remember it, I was apparently a big fan of jigsaws as a small child, but I hadn’t done one in ages until the second half of last year when the desire to do one awoke in my consciousness. I think that it had something to do with the mental health challenges I was dealing with at the time, perhaps my brain was searching its memory banks to locate something that would help me reset things?
In the past year since that point I have probably completed thirty jigsaws. My completion rate dropped in the spring once I returned to work but since leaving work for good this summer I am back up to a rate of roughly one per week. My partner is amazed by this, as she completes them at a more leisurely pace, and my response is usually “well, they are good for my brain”, but other than the resetting factor that I described above, why are they so appealing to me?
Well first and foremost, in life I like to have a plan, and for jigsaws you definitely need one of those. Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t always have to start a jigsaw by completing the edges, but it is a good idea to sort them as part of the first sorting stage. For me, this stage mainly involves colour sorting, plus I always like to remove the inevitable blank/plain pieces that make up a portion of every jigsaw. This part of the process reminds me of the importance not to just wade into something when I start it, but to organise my thoughts (pieces) first. I always leave those most difficult pieces to the end of the puzzle. My theory is that, once the rest is complete, you have all the clues you need to help you fit the blank pieces in the right places.
Once the initial sort is complete, I usually start with what I consider to be the easiest part of the puzzle. It might be a building or an object, but I do this first as it gets me into the puzzle and helps me to feel like I am achieving something. From then on things usually develop naturally and most often it takes me three to four days of on and off puzzling sessions to get it done.
I have developed a set of unofficial rules for my jigsaw hobby, and thinking about them now I can’t help but feel that they represent more for me than just the way I complete jigsaw puzzles. Selection of a puzzle is based on choosing one that is not so difficult or easy that it ceases to be fun. I have seen those puzzles that advertise themselves as being ‘the most difficult’ and I simply don’t see the point of them, enjoyment-wise.
I like a challenge though, so I would only choose a puzzle of less than 1000 pieces if I really liked the picture. The picture cannot be a photograph, and it must not have too much sea or sky in it, for obvious reasons. I am aware of some puzzles which have numbers on the back of them to help with completion, and I have strong views about these - if a puzzle needs numbers on the back it is either too hard or the puzzler is not trying hard enough.
Once a puzzle is complete it stays on my desk for a day or so before being photographed, broken up and either passed on to my partner, my mum or a charity shop. I almost never buy new puzzles, as like ‘poly pockets’ there are enough in the world already (one for the teachers!) I would never do a puzzle twice and as for those who frame completed puzzles…
I recently reorganised my home office and I am proud to say that I now have a permanent jigsaw table within it. I am lucky enough to live right by a beach so the table also has an amazing view out of the window if I need another reason to sit there. I have also bought a powerful anglepoise lamp that means I can jigsaw late into the night if I need to.
I am not going to end this post with ‘a jigsaw is like life’, as that sounds really awful, but I will say that, having read this through, that how we approach a jigsaw is a window into how our minds work. I bet you can guess what I am off to do now!
Comments
Post a Comment