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(Health Secrets) There are many metaphors for life, but one that really fits well during a cold white winter like this one is a jigsaw puzzle. Why is a jigsaw puzzle a metaphor for life? Let’s think about working through the puzzle version of the painting by Klimt titled The Kiss, pictured here.
A metaphoric journey is perfect for winter reflection
We all have in mind a picture of what we expect from life, a picture of an outcome. Most of us want our lives to be beautiful like Klimt’s painting, and filled with gardens, love, relationships, harmony, rhythmic patterns, and perfect edges. We aim to can create a universe of beauty within seemingly rigid parameters and boundaries.
With this understood, we can align ourselves with a plan of action for doing the puzzle, which becomes a metaphor for living our lives. Start by turning all the puzzle pieces right side up; then separate the background pieces from the garden, his clothing from her clothing, his skin from her skin. Set the edges and then work in from the edge pieces. Set the boundary pieces that have the colors of two sections. Focus on color patterns at times, on puzzle piece shapes at times, and keep the big picture content in mind. Talk to the puzzle or its pieces if you like.
When we get to the point where nothing in the jigsaw puzzle seems to fit together, its time to work outside the framework of the puzzle. Find a pair of pieces that fit together nicely and build on them outside the boundaries of the puzzle. Then take this pattern and place it inside the puzzle boundaries and move it around until the perfect placement presents itself.
When everything is correctly placed, the jigsaw puzzle has a beautiful seamless quality. It is rhythmic with harmonious colors and no ruff edges.
This process is not perfect, and several missteps are the norm. We may have to redo sections of the edges, as what seemed to be perfect placements were actually misplaced pieces. When we try to incorporate the pattern section completed outside the puzzle into the puzzle, it may seem not to fit. We may become frustrated when we discover that the pattern section has developed an internal integrity of its own, and it does not seem to want to take its place in the whole of the puzzle.
Flexibility is the key
How do we deal with these difficulties so we can continue moving forward? Keeping your thinking flexible works wonders! So does changing your point of view, rotating it by 90, 180, 270, 360 degrees. Are you struggling with a few pieces that don’t seem to belong anywhere? Maybe they belong where you least expect them. Like in our lives, we sometimes don’t understand these outlier pieces until we step back and accept their individual reality. Our puzzle picture is only complete when we manage to slip the outliers in quietly and comfortably.
Every season has a focus and winter is a time for reflection. After honest reflection, one knows what seeds to plant in the spring. This winter seems endless, so its ending will have more than the usual significance. Try a jigsaw puzzle to give yourself a focus for reflection, and reclaim your excitement, anticipation and purpose for the coming spring.
