2020-04-01_Readers_Digest

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

THE


GENIUS


SECTION
9 Pages to sharpen
Your Mind

Jigsaw puzzles aren’t just fun.


They can also relieve anxiety, especially when


you put them together, well, together.


PIECE


OF MIND


By Caitlin Agnew

W

hile out shopping
for Christmas pres-
ents in 2018, I bought
myself a jigsaw puz-
zle on a whim. It was
an unusual buy, one that I now recog-
nize as an attempt at dealing with that
particular stress many of us experience
during the holidays. Don’t get me
wrong—I love seeing my family. But

holiday get-togethers have a way of
putting any personal shortcomings at
center stage. This cheery pink puzzle
had everything I felt I needed to dis-
tract myself in one box. And at $20, the
price was right. Why not?
As soon as I started on my puzzle,
I knew I’d found exactly what I was
looking for. Instead of my usual late-
night Netflix binge, I was sorting its

114 april 2020 Photograph by Joleen Zubek

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