Puzzles are toys that test people’s knowledge or problem-solving skills. Since I started working from home, I dedicate more time to solving puzzles. But I guess my passion for puzzles started many years ago with sudoku. Sudoku is a logical puzzle based on some rules, the classic Sudoku is a 9×9 grid, with 9 regions, you have to fill all rows, columns, and regions with digits from 1 to 9, without repeating it.
My first puzzle was a 1000 pieces landscape with a house in it. It was a great challenge for me, being the first one, but in time, by practicing it, I learned that the basic teach from it is patience.
I think my passion for resolving puzzles was formed in time. I like to challenge myself in resolving them because each puzzle has its own difficulty. In the beginning, you may think you can’t do it, but with patience, you can find the solution. Having this feeling of solving a puzzle, you would like to go to the next challenge.
Usually, I am doing puzzles with 1000 pieces or 1500 pieces. Recently I resolved my first puzzle with 2000 pieces, a beautiful landscape. In time I learned to better split the puzzle into regions, and I found out that I enjoy solving the sky part of the picture.
Until now, I resolved around 20 puzzles, most of them were landscape. I received as a gift a puzzle with 3000 pieces, a puzzle that I would like to solve in near future. After I finish a puzzle, I put them back in their boxes.
I am working alone on my puzzles. I can clear my mind doing it. When I am so focused on finding the missing pieces and trying to build something, I even don’t realize how time passes.
There was one time when I had partners in solving a puzzle. We gathered at my friend’s house and had a puzzle night. We could exercise teamwork to build something, and the achievement of solving it was for all of us. It was a nice experience, to share the state and process to solve a puzzle.
What does solving a puzzle mean to me? First, is about the challenge to find the final piece of the puzzle. With each piece put in the right place, you are one step closer to your objective. Piece by piece you build your image until the last piece completes the puzzle. But is not all about achieving the final image, it is also about the journey.
Resolving a puzzle is a good way to train your patience and memory.