Love as a puzzle

Looking at life as if it is a jig-saw puzzle this morning. Everyone starts out with the same number of pieces and they are all perfect. Clean edges, brilliant colors, all face up and waiting for someone to assembled into an image, a life as a work of art.

Over time, the perfection wears off.  Corners get dents, colors fade from light, stains from reckless behavior. Perhaps someone else’s  actions leave their mark. A piece lost when someone walks away with it. Bends it trying to force into the wrong place.

Pieces are picked up, moved around, carelessly dropped far from the place they are needed. Some land ‘face’ down. Colorless, backwards and confusing.

The thing about these life puzzles is the limited number of shapes and colors the parts occur in, are made up of. This works when you meet someone. Some pieces combine to create an image of friendship. Some an image of enemies. Some the image of teacher and others of student. With each encounter there is an exchange that creates a new picture.

When you meet someone who is special, not just another image made from the combining but, an image, your image, made more complete by their pieces, that is when the puzzle has created love.

The image of love is one that can come together very quickly. The pieces fit so perfectly and effortlessly together. Faster and faster the sharing and exchanging can become such a blur that when there is a piece out-of-place, it a may be overlooked. The thought, we’ll come back to that one later, so many are working to worry about just one or two.

Once the border pieces have all been connected, all the easier to find flat edged parts, the middle takes shape. The closer the picture comes to being complete, the more the not-quite-right pieces stand out. The shape may work but the colors are wrong.  An older puzzle may have faded hues that leave a dull spot. A newer puzzle may have an edge a bit to sharp, the piece does not fit all the way.

Each may come with a stray piece from some other attempt that is just in the way, trapped within the border. Being moved around until it is preventing the right piece from being  put into place. Some pieces are lost. Some upside down.

The process of building, assembling the puzzle can be delightful, entertaining, challenging and frustrating. Some times you need to walk away from the table, let the image fade, clear out the stuck idea of what goes where. Some deep breaths and then, come back and survey the board, the remaining bits as well as the image so far complete.

Chances are it will not be perfect or complete. However, it may be magnificent as it is. Fourteen hundred and ninety pieces in place, tight fit, colors match, image is breathtaking, inspiring, an even mix of each others pieces.

What now? Do you stare at the ten spots that are not right? Focus all your attention on a wine stain, crack, bend, tear? Do you quite and take all of you pieces back to start over? That sounds easy. It is impossible. You can never get all of your pieces back nor, can you avoid taking some or the others with you. It is just the nature of mixing the love puzzle pieces.

When you try again, you will be challenged with the missing and the extra. Each increase with each attempt. Some old puzzles are a mess. If you are a new puzzle, try to understand.

A V