Have you met this person? They can grab a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle, spill it onto the floor, and place all the pieces perfectly. No. Because that’s not how puzzles work. With experience and some luck, we can get faster, but we still have to go through the cognitive crunching.
Upon seeing a piece of art, we often think, I could do that. That’s until we look closer and see the thousands of seams that stitch together the care and consideration that went into the creation before you.
Every seam serves as a soundless reminder of the mental acrobatics the picture’s puzzle solver had to backflip through.
It’ll take five minutes. An hour later, and you’re still tinkering away with cursing breath and a molten temper born from expectations shunting up against reality.
Look for the seams. The more simple, elegant, and effortless something appears, the closer you’ll have to crane your neck to see them. Finding them illuminates the secret: a quick tick to-do may truly be a day’s sweat, and that’s OK.
As a culture, we pour fortunes into hiding the wrinkles of our labour. Everything looks smooth, but life is crunchy. When we get a tough nut that doesn’t crack with a tap, we shouldn’t blame ourselves.
Back-off, enjoy the perplexities of puzzle solving, and take things one piece at a time.
Stay curious,
Jamie
