Wisdom from an 1000-piece cat puzzle
Four days after landing back in JFK in the new year, I packed a backpack and groceries into the back of a car and headed upstate with some friends. Weekend getaways upstate, to most New Yorkers I’m sure, are so inexplicably special. Whenever I’m feeling down, I know I can always look to those capsulated memories for comfort.
Psychedelics are new for me. Similar to weekends upstate, I feel fortunate that I can look fondly back at past trips. I feel a complete shedding of anxiety and of the constructed self, almost as if I were back in a time of my life when I didn’t know anxiety or stress. People who know me know that I love witnessing or being adults at play, which I find to be one of the most curing and innocent states we adults can experience. Mushrooms opens up a window in our overstimulated minds to listen, to feel, to giggle, without the idea of being perceived.
Out of everything we brought - board games, Nintendo Switch, cards - somehow we landed on an 1000 piece cat puzzle. I don’t remember the last time I did a puzzle with friends, but this puzzle specifically hit me on a whole new level. Below are eight lessons I went to bed with that night. Who knew that completing a puzzle could also be a memorable lesson on life?
1) Each puzzle piece has the potential to be the perfect fit.
2) Getting started is the hardest.
3) When you’re stuck, all you need is a fresh perspective - standing up, moving around, rotate the pieces, look at things upside down.
4) Sometimes, helping someone else find what they’re looking for is more satisfying than trying to solve your own problem.
5) When in doubt, ask for help.
6) Pay attention to details.
7) The missing piece might not be what you think it’d look like.
8) Everything falls into place in time.
After going full force at the puzzle, we sat around a fire pit and listened to the flowing river. When it was time to reload the cars, the six of us had basically completed this 1000 piece puzzle sans some originally missing pieces.
