A Family Pastime during Long Cold Winters!

One of my finished jigsaw puzzles!

We didn't just have winter, we had long, cold winters in northern Michigan.  When the first snow came my mom would set up her card table and out would come the first jigsaw puzzle of the season.

I can truthfully say that puzzles were not my favorite pastime but because Mother liked doing them we all pitched in and helped her out.  It seemed to be the place where conversations became more intimate as you sat across the table from each other and worked quietly on finding those pieces that would fit just right in the puzzle.

One of my mother's finished puzzles.

Another one of her jigsaw puzzles.

When my parents retired and eventually moved to Oklahoma, my mom asked me one day if I had a jigsaw puzzle she could do.  I had not worked on a puzzle for years but I went to the store and purchased one and we spent some wonderful evenings working on that puzzle together.  Doing puzzles with my mom became a part of our winter pastime.

My mother getting her picture taken at Glamour Shots!

After my mom passed away it seemed that doing puzzles came to end.  But last winter I was missing her and thought about our great times together over those jigsaw puzzles.  So I bought my first puzzle!  At first, it was overwhelming as I wasn't sure about doing it by myself.  It was only 500 pieces and a great colorful scene and I found I really enjoyed it.

A couple months ago, my daughter Lisa remarked about how mentally sharp Grandma was right up until she passed away at one month short of her 92nd birthday.  She not only loved jigsaw puzzles but could do the expert crossword puzzles. She loved any type of word game.  She was definitely the wordsmith in our family.  I was 50 years old before I beat her at Scrabble and I thought I had arrived!  Lisa said she had recently read an article about the mental benefits of working jigsaw and crossword puzzles.  Here is the article:

 

SOCIAL PSYCHIATRY BLOG

WHY JIGSAW PUZZLES ARE GOOD FOR THE BRAIN

The human mind has two separate hemispheres or lobes called right and left-brain with each one dealing in different functions. The right brain deals with emotions and performs tasks holistically while the left-brain functions in a linear fashion. When you are able to use both sides of the brain, you will find that your mind power is harnessed to its best and gets better. Jigsaw puzzle helps you exercise both the parts of your brain.

Left-brain thinks logically and follows sequence while the right brain is creative, intuitive and emotional. When you try to put together a jigsaw puzzle, you harness both the brainpower.
While working on jigsaw puzzles, it has been studied that there exists continuous activity thought the brain involving all the cells and parts of the brain. This intense activity works to exercise the brain cells and thereby activate them and increase their efficiency and capacity too.

There have been several studies like the MacArthur Study, that has found that people who have been used to doing jigsaw puzzles as well as crossword and were fully active stood to gain a longer life span and also lesser chances of falling prey to Alzheimer’s, memory loss, dementia, and other old age problems.

The brain produces a chemical known as dopamine that is chiefly responsible for learning and memory. The production of this chemical increases in the brain at the time when it is engaged in solving the jigsaw puzzle.

Working on puzzles and solving them provides us with very many helpful benefits. First of all, it makes us alert, increases our concentration, expands our creativity. On the other hand, looking at the images constantly helps us practice visualization, which is again good aid for any physical activity that succeeds in mental activity. It also affects our physical health by lowering our breath rate, reducing heart rate and blood pressure too.

Working on jigsaw puzzles and focusing on the same image for longer periods can actually turn out more like meditations and induce a certain calmness and peace in the mind. The mind will now be focused only on visualizing the image in front and will concentrate on this alone in exclusion to everything else around him. Thereby he arrives at a meditative and peaceful stage where no other thoughts occur to disturb his tranquility.

You get immense and long-lasting benefits out of doing puzzles on a daily basis. It not only sharpens your memory, improves your brain function, but the clarity of mind and thought helps you clear out the clutter in your mind and the cobwebs accumulating over the years. You then begin to see things around you in a new light are able to appreciate your life a lot better. You not only start finding solutions to your problems but also begin to look forward to every day in your life.

So after reading this article I decided to purchase another 500 piece puzzle and felt a sense of accomplishment when I finished it  Then I got one more and it was also enjoyable.  I found myself more confident and next bought a 1,000 piece puzzle.  Well, that was not a good idea because it didn't take me long to realize that my personality can turn a fun pastime into a project.  I was staying up late working on it and feeling like I had to get it done.  It actually became a chore!  One day my husband Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected asked me what the rush was as I had all winter to finish it!  I told him we have short winters in Oklahoma and I wanted to get it completed.  For me "out of sight is out of mind" so I moved the card table into my husband's man cave where I wouldn't have to look at it every time I was in the living room.  That may sound extreme but it worked for me.

This 1,000 piece puzzle was a little overwhelming!

I did finish it in about a week and a half!

Doing things in moderation has never been one of my strong traits so I think when I finish this puzzle it will be my last one until next year! The lesson for me was even though the study showed the benefits of working jigsaw puzzles I had to learn to not overdo a good thing.

• Moderation means the avoidance of excess or extremes, especially in one's behavior. 

• Moderation is the act of making something less extreme or intense. 

There are things in all our lives that we have to learn to do in moderation so we don't burn out and not want to have anything to do with it again.  It may be your job, entertainment, a hobby or some other thing you like to do.  Word to the wise - don't let a pastime because pressure or a hobby become a hassle!