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A few weeks ago a friend with a large collection of beautiful jigsaw puzzles asked if I’d like to set one up at my house for a few weeks. I don't remember the last time I worked on a jigsaw puzzle but I suspect it was when my kids were little. I recall setting up puzzles on our dining room table from time to time and we’d all work on them together and sometimes individually as we passed by the table throughout the day. Sometimes I’d see one of the kids placing a few pieces before heading out to school. Often if one person sat down another would join in. I liked that about working a puzzle. It was an ongoing family project. When completed I left it up for a while so that we could admire it for a few days, then I'd put it away. In a few weeks or months I’d pull out a new puzzle.
I accepted my friend’s offer and went to work on a 500-piece scene of a village in Switzerland. Once completed, I left it out for a few days to admire my handiwork just as I did many years ago and it brought back fond memories. It was a pleasurable passage of time. I’d put something on my stereo and pass a little time here and there. After a few weeks I bought a 1000-piece puzzle because I wanted the enjoyment to last longer. As of this writing I’m about one-quarter of the way into it.
I recall the same activity when I was a young and I was glad my kids enjoyed it too. In fact, I’ve always enjoyed many types of puzzles and find them relaxing. In particular I like puzzles that can be left for long periods of time because sometimes things come up preventing my return. I became absolutely hooked on Sudoku a few years ago and found that once I started I couldn’t stop. In the beginning I worked on them for hours then finally I put myself on a Sudoku diet. Now I can only pull out a Sudoku puzzle with a specific time allowance. Once I pass the allotted time for Sudoku I don't touch them again for many weeks. The jigsaw puzzle isn’t like that.
I also like to read, write, garden, walk, work on computer projects, knit, crochet, create craft projects, sew, and many other leisure activities. Recently at lunch with friends we discussed some of the projects we were working on and I mentioned the puzzle I had set up in my dining room. Every one of them groaned. It was, they said, a waste of time.
We then launched into a discussion about leisure activities and the consensus was that reading expands the mind, writing likewise, gardening maintains one’s property, walking is good for our health, computer projects are important for organizing life, knitting, crocheting, crafting, and sewing produce garments or decorative pieces for gifts or the home, and so forth. Puzzles did nothing.
I recall sheepishly agreeing with everyone. I got caught up in the moment. These women are always constructing every part of their lives and there’s little time for frivolity unless it’s carefully factored into their planners. But later at home I passed by the table with all my puzzle pieces neatly arranged into color categories, sitting in tidy rows next to two large plastic plates that I use to piece together segments before joining them to the master puzzle, my tiny spatula used to carefully move joined pieces about because my fingers are too clumsy for delicate placement, my magnifying glass used to detect slight variations in color shades, and I thought to myself-—this just can’t be bad. I put a lot of effort into this activity. Is it a waste of time?
I think I temporarily fell victim to the mindset that every moment of every day must be filled with important content. I was slightly embarrassed that I had gotten caught in mindlessness at lunch. To spend even a minute of time doing something without meaning was wasteful. But when seeing my beautiful puzzle later that day I snapped back to who I really am: someone who loves to fritter away time in pursuit of meaningless and silly activities.
Interestingly, this same group spent a portion of our lunch discussing the latest happenings on American Idle, Dancing with the Stars, and others. It just so happens that I have never watched those shows, never will, along with all the other shows of their ilk, and I’m embarrassed they exist. (That’s a very unpopular opinion. I have a list of TV shows I find vile and will eventually produce a blog on the topic. I actually had to watch them to write about them. It was ugly.)
I was surprised to learn how many hours these women spent watching TV. They all defended their time in front of the screen as their down time, the time they use to unwind after busy days. Yet, these same intelligent task-driven women that watch trash TV felt compelled to inform me that working on a jigsaw puzzle was a waste of time. Really?
So naturally that drove me to my trusty computer and I did a little research on the value of puzzles, word games, and TV. Everyone agrees we can strengthen our brains by exercising them. This is not done when passively staring at a TV screen. If we are studying language through a telecourse, or playing a video game then watching TV is productive and we create new connections in the brain while strengthening old ones. Take a peek at the Internet and there are countless articles on the benefits of working a variety of puzzles for children and the elderly, both groups needing regular stimulation of those dear little brain connectors.
The Journal of the American Medical Association stated that elderly people strengthen their synapses through brain-boosting exercises and show improvement in memory, reasoning skills, and mental processing [paraphrasing]. Here’s a helpful link. (There are many.) You may have to cut and paste.
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5201227_puzzles-good-brain_.html#ixzz0sAQt0aiD
I also read that in 1969 a researcher by the name of Herbert Krugman monitored a person over a period of time and found that in less than one minute of television viewing the person's brainwaves switched from Beta waves--brainwaves associated with active, logical thought--to primarily less productive Alpha waves. When the subject stopped watching television and began reading a magazine, the brainwaves reverted to Beta waves. But all of that isn’t the point, is it? What we do in our leisure time is personal and what works for one person is not necessarily going to work for another. We are not wasting time if we are relaxing because we are—relaxing!
I watched part of the World Cup recently because the USA was playing and I enjoyed it and it turned out to be an exciting game. However, I can’t see myself spending that much time on a regular basis watching TV. Over two hours. I heard today that the average person watches more than two hours of TV per day. It’s a leisure activity that many enjoy even if we are reduced to Alpha waves. We are relaxing.
But I’d rather work a jigsaw puzzle with the Beatles streaming from the Bose and I’ll be building brain connectors while doing so. American Idol vs. a jigsaw puzzle with the Beatles? Maybe a jigsaw puzzle depicting the four lads? Let it be.
www.sharonstrawhandgarner.com
Each week in this spot I will report an instance of good customer service (if any) but without embellishment. Just a business or entity that knows how to treat customers at least some of the time if not always.
This week I received excellent customer service from:
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