Good morning! Coming at you today from across the pond, from lovely London in the heart of England.

If you are a longtime reader, you’re likely aware of the fact that my sweetheart Isabelle is a renowned artisan, widely recognized as one of the top hand-cutters of wooden jigsaw puzzles in the world. Her label, Puzzlapy, is a mashup of the words ‘puzzle’ and ‘therapy’.

She was honored to be a featured guest exhibiting at the 40th annual gathering of the Benevolent Confraternity of Dissectologists happening this past weekend in Coventry.

I’ll say one thing about jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts, you couldn’t find a nicer bunch of people if you tried! Over 100 folks gathered here from around the UK, Germany, Sweden, France, Hungary and the USA.

In attendance were a number of currently active hand-cutters, like my Isabelle, some laser-cut makers, and assorted traders and collectors of vintage and historical puzzles. Plus a host of ordinary jigsaw puzzle fanatics were on hand. It’s sort of a loose conference scenario with all the tables festooned with various puzzles to do.

We were treated to an excellent presentation by noted historian Anne Williams on the first global jigsaw craze that happened in the 1930s during the Great Depression. The recent boom in popularity, of course, was attributed to the Covid pandemic.

To assemble a jigsaw puzzle is to engage in a contemplative moving meditation, (your hands and eyes move, and your brain engages). It’s a state of mind you drop into that can be enjoyed in solitude, collaboratively with a partner, or in social groups as a community building activity.

It’s a quintessentially analog activity that stands out in the modern world. It insists that you put your phone down and focus on the pieces, not a screen.

For dopamine fans, puzzling is like a drip feed to the brain. You get a tiny hit of the feel-good hormone every time you fit a piece. There’s an excitement that comes as the number of remaining pieces shrinks and the pace picks up as you approach the end.

The Baylor College of Medicine reports that “doing jigsaw puzzles can improve cognition and visual-spatial reasoning. The act of putting the pieces of a puzzle together requires concentration and improves short-term memory and problem solving. Using the puzzle as an exercise of the mind can spark imagination and increase both your creativity and productivity.”

Puzzling meets at the crossroads between the impulse to organize and the act of creation. You start out with some number of disconnected bits, and one by one find their connections until you are rewarded with a completed image. It’s also a lesson in non-attachment, as generally jigsaws are disassembled when finished, to live in their boxes as a special sort of collectable artifact that holds the potential for the same experience to be had in another place and time.

You might hear people say “I’m no good at jigsaws” or “I don’t have the patience.” Don’t believe ‘em. After all, what does “good at” mean in the context of a jigsaw? Some folks are faster, like the speed puzzlers who compete. Others like to take their time. There’s no one way to approach the practice, what’s most interesting is to observe your thought processes and state of mind as you drop into it.

Here’s a trick if you want to tease someone else into developing the puzzling habit. Don’t just hand them the box and expect them to start on their own. Make sure you have a spot with good light, and take care of the first task which is to flip the pieces right side up and even organize a little or perhaps start on a section or the border. If you make it easy for someone to get started, chances are they’ll get into it.

Keys to well-being are more valuable than ever in today’s world. May you have many moments of moving meditation, whether you find them on the dance floor or the puzzle table…

Much love till next Monday!

M+

ML #616

Mark Metz
Director of the Dance First Association
Publisher of Conscious Dancer Magazine