The Puzzle Piece of Peace

Stop Forcing Things to Fit

Spring feels like it's shyly peeking its head out here and there, but my memories of that frigid Philly winter are still fresh in my mind. 🥶

And even fresher in my mind are the beautiful moments of slow, quiet days of holiday. I lounged in my pajamas just a bit longer than I usually allow, watching the snow fall and spending quite a bit of time on an unexpected hobby: putting together a jigsaw puzzle with my parents. 🧩

These past few trips home, I've been surprised by how much I have loved sitting quietly to put them together. Surprising because I think puzzles were pretty far down on my list of fun during childhood. Staring at a thousand tiny, scattered pieces used to leave me with a headache. Far from being relaxing, I found it dizzying, and honestly, totally boring!

But doing a puzzle now feels entirely different, and it made me think a lot about how we try to fit the pieces of our own lives together.

Every day, we face the puzzle of our schedules: fitting in time to work, connect, move, create, clean, love, and take care of others and ourselves. I know that often a lot of my own daily stress comes from the panicked feeling of trying to force all those pieces in before the day ends.

There is also the deeper puzzle of where we fit in. Whether navigating the contrast between a quiet suburban life and a bustling city like Taipei, or sorting out our identity in the many roles we oscillate between each day… Where do we find our own piece of peace?

Returning to Taipei, I’ve tried to carry some of the slow and gentle simplicity of home with me to create a new kind of self-care. 

I'm realizing that this self-care isn't about figuring out how to fit more things into the puzzle like a new complicated wellness routine to force into my  mornings or another item on the to-do list.

This self-care is simply finding peace, quiet, and a deeper presence in whatever is happening right around me. It is enjoying the process of trial and error without rushing.

Whether we are navigating our daily routines or trying to catch the steps to a brand new song in Zumba class this week, we can let go of the pressure to figure it all out instantly. We don't have to force the pieces to fit, and we don't have to force ourselves into a specific mold.

To me, giving ourselves the grace to just enjoy the process is the ultimate act of gentle self-care.

Come find your piece of peace on the dance floor with me this week!

Keep moving!

xx,

Katie