Life isn’t about finding pieces of a puzzle. It’s about creating and putting those exceptional pieces together.   ~Glen Van Dekken

The other day I had a random thought about jigsaw puzzles I couldn’t shake.

I attempted to pick up a blog I started a while back, but something urged me to write about the way I approach putting together jigsaw puzzles.

Jigsaw puzzles, really. Go figure. I appreciate random thoughts that help me make sense of my world.

I had this thought about three types of puzzle builders in this world.

1. Exact match types use the box cover as a guide to piece together a puzzle. They usually sort by color or patterns to determine the different sections of the puzzle.
2. Random types piece together puzzles without any strategy. It’s trial and error with them.
3. Border types piece together corners and edges first before tackling the inside area. When it comes to organizing, there’s an OCD like quality about them.

I consider myself the border type. I learned from my Nana, who loved puzzles.

Piecing together the edges and corners first, you get a sense of the big picture and building the frame makes the rest of the puzzle less daunting.

That’s what I’ve been doing lately. Building the frame of a puzzle that I’ve been tinkering with – my business. Staring at the 500 pieces before me, sorting them into logical groups, and figuring out where each piece goes has me a little frustrated.  

It doesn’t help that I keep leaving the puzzle on the table for stretches of time to do something else. When I return, some of the pieces are missing. Argh!  

Building the frame of this puzzle isn’t easy or quick for me, especially because I value serendipitous moments and the way inspiration strikes me.

And I’m dying to get to the good part so that I can admire the fruit of my labor – the finished puzzle!

In my case, the finished puzzle looks like a well-crafted business in which I am called to more, a concept I learned from Stella O. It also includes shifting my message, rewriting my website, and ultimately getting more ideal clients.

Being here, shifting and sorting through the pieces, is taking its toll on me. I haven’t given myself enough time and space to work through it either.

Inner work is definitely in order.

But having this moment, being in the lab, and writing it out feels good. I feel myself gearing up to put the remaining pieces in place.

In fact, the more I reflect on the puzzle metaphor, the more I relate it to my business services.

As a writer and designer of curriculum, I sort through the puzzle pieces a client puts on the table. I take those pieces to build a frame or structure. Once the structure is built, we flow together to put the remaining pieces or details into place,

I call my approach Structure & Flow.

There’s more of it to come so stay tuned.

What metaphors have you used to make sense of your world? Can you relate to the puzzle metaphor that I shared in this post? If so, how do you relate? What’s your approach to solving puzzles? For a personal reflection, write your responses in your journal. For a group exchange, share your comments below or in the GoneGirlGo Facebook group. Feel free to email me for a personal exchange at zoe@gonegirlgo.com.