Technological advances are designed to make life easier. Isn’t it wonderful when multiple devices can talk to each other? To start a task on one platform and wrap up on another?
That said, have you found out, like I have, that such innovation makes us more driven? The line between the personal and professional is so blurred it’s hard to know where one ends and the other begins. That’s why I’m deliberate in setting boundaries, in knowing when to call it a day, per se, and to take some “me” time.
A relaxing activity for me is doing jigsaw puzzles. Scientific research shows they have profound benefits. Jigsaw puzzles exercise the left and right sides of the brain, improve short-term memory, and enhance visual-spatial reasoning.
I can find a myriad of virtual puzzles to satisfy my craving. However, there are times when I love to have a physical version. There’s just something about a tangible piece in hand that an online counterpart can never produce. It brings me back to a simpler time.
My penchant for puzzles is a product of my late maternal grandmother. She was a stay-at-home wife and mother as my grandfather worked hard to provide for over twenty-five years as a chief warehouseman for an appliance dealer in my hometown of New Orleans.
After finishing her housework – she kept an immaculate house, my grandmother found solace in the quiet of her living room with her puzzle of the week and the white noise of her air conditioning unit.
She’d always start with forming the edges and fill in joining pieces clockwise. She amazed me with her intuition as I’d see the picture on the puzzle’s box come into view. I celebrated each time watching the joy on her face when she’d placed in the last piece to complete her passion project.
The euphoria that emanates from wholeness is inherent in us all. Society emphasizes individualism. Yet, the human heart has a longing for someone who accepts and loves unconditionally. I saw a meme on social media: “The best thing in life is finding someone who knows all your flaws mistakes and weaknesses, and still thinks you’re completely amazing.”
God planted the seed for companionship during earth’s creation saying of the male in Genesis 2:18, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” God, however, had to transmit His plan to Adam’s mind and make him aware of how lonely he was. When God instructed Adam to give names to animals, Adam realized he was the only one without a mate.
Now hay Adam was on the same wavelength, God placed Adam into a deep sleep, took a rib from his side, and fashioned a mate, Eve. An ecstatic Adam says at the first sight of his partner, “At last!” This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man’ (Genesis 2:23).”
Well-known author C.S. Lewis speaks to Adam’s happiness in his book, The Four Loves: “Friendship arises out of mere Companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, “What? You too? I thought I was the only one.”
Lewis elaborates, “It is when two such persons discover one another, when, whether with immense difficulties and semi-articulate fumblings or with what would seem to us amazing and elliptical speed, they share their vision – it is then that Friendship is born. And instantly they stand together in an immense solitude.”
Modern-day philosophy conditions us to “look out for number one”, “be your own man”, and “trust no one”. We’re increasingly self-contained fulfilling our vision for success. Yet, I recall a scene I watched online recently from the 1976 movie, “Mahogany” where the character played by Billy Dee Williams said, “Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with.”
King Solomon echoes Williams’s belief in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”
That third person who wants to form an unbreakable bond is none other than God Himself. To be a good friend or mate, we must allow God to be the centerpiece of our lives. The Apostle Paul writes in Colossians 2:9-10, “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”
Today, I celebrate the first anniversary of my blog site. God, I thank You for allowing me to have success, and to bring the vision You gave me to fruition. Thank You for using me to touch and encourage people around the world and for their friendship. As I venture into another year of blogging, the one is want to ultimately please and honor is You. I’m pieced together because of Your peace within me.
In the words of Take 6’s reinterpretation of the 1980s classic by the group, Ambrosia:
In Your word, You say forever
We will always be together
And for me, there’s nothin’ better
You’re the biggest part of me
You’re the life that breathes in me
You’re the biggest part of me
Lord, it’s me and You, and here’s to DIC Writes year two.
Sources:
Article: “7 Surprising Benefits of Doing Jigsaw Puzzles for All Ages”
Scripture: Genesis 2:18*
Scripture: Genesis 2:23*
Book: “The Four Loves” by C.S. Lewis
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12*
Scripture: Colossians 2:9-10*
Song: “Biggest Part of Me” by Take 6
Song: “Biggest Part of Me” by Ambrosia
*Scripture references are from the New Living Translation. Their links go to bible.com, courtesy of YouVersion, makers of the Bible App available for iOS and Android devices.
