An illustrated anatomy of stress: the puzzle

Good morning, DMV! It’s Wednesday, February 25.

Early last month, my daughter was having a stress moment that I wasn’t able to resolve with words or hugs. So I asked her to help me with a puzzle we’d just put out on the living room table. We both dropped deep into “the zone” — and we had a few hours of chill. That was so much easier than talking it out!

So as workplace stress was ratcheting up, I broke out another puzzle — a freebie my husband found on the street in our neighborhood. When I showed it to a friend who also likes puzzles, she recognized the artist’s name, Charley Harper, and said many of his artworks have been turned into puzzles! I looked up his puzzles and conclude (totally unscientifically and simply based on my own struggles) that this is the hardest of the bunch because of all the BLUE.

(For those of you readers in the Chicago area, my friend noted that the Chicago Children’s Museum is having a Charley Harper exhibit right now.)

Anyway, this pic above is how it started.

In the Washington Post newsroom, we were frequently reminded that things were going south and the company was losing money. In recent years, there were buyouts, layoffs and rumors of another round of layoffs. Those rumors ratcheted up last fall.

Through this spiraling swirl of stress, around work each day, I got deep into crafting. I’ve knit several pair of socks and a tank top. And the puzzles have helped, too.

By the time I busted out this puzzle, on or just before Jan. 30, my colleagues and I were expecting a layoff announcement the following week.

I couldn’t let my mind run around willy-nilly with speculation and what-if’s, so I focused on the pieces. The birds were the easy part.

It’s a smidge frustrating that there are at least two pieces missing — smack dab in the middle of two birds, but I can live with it.

At this point, most of what was left was dark blue. I separated out the edges; then meticulously classified the rest: the pieces with little yellow stars or pieces with no stars; and then broke them down by shape — zero, one, two, three or four “outies.”

The day before I was laid off, as you can see in the photo above, I finished the border. I had to test each piece, knowing whether I needed an “innie” or an “outie.” Since the edge pieces are unidirectional, with the flat edge facing out, it wasn’t too hard in the end, though it required patience.

The rest has been very slow, incremental progress. I think I have fewer than 200 pieces left. Many days, I feel like giving up. But each piece I find gives me such a burst of celebratory joy. Plus, it calms my little noggin.

I admit that I can’t wait to clear the living room table … though I’ll probably just throw another puzzle on it.

The DC Bird Alliance and I invite you for a free guided winter bird walk Saturday morning at Langston Golf Course in Northeast D.C. Bald eagles are frequently seen, the alliance says, as well as bluebirds, hawks, ducks and other seasonal avian residents. Daily Dose readers get first dibs on tickets. Several have signed up, but there are some spots left, so reserve now (and be sure to sign the waiver).

Also, Daily Dose reader Analía Gómez Vidal, of Silver Spring, just celebrated her 37th birthday on Monday and decided to spend that evening at the Silent Book Club that I mentioned in Monday’s newsletter.

“I enjoyed meeting other readers and having some alone reading time with others. I look forward to joining future ones,” Analía wrote to me.

Happy belated birthday!

Stacy Beck, 54, a resident of Northwest D.C., snapped these pics Feb. 7, in Alexandria on the banks of the Potomac near River Farm.

“I was going stir crazy in the freezing temps and decided to embrace the cold and go bird watching on the Potomac down near Mt. Vernon bc I have seen bald eagles there before,” Stacy wrote to me in an email.

“I was rewarded in spades,” she continued, adding that some photos included a juvenile. “It was so worth the cold!”

🦅

UPDATED: A friend pointed out that we were technically laid off, not fired, so I’m going through old posts to amend that fact.