Reader\'s Digest - 04.2020

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

Reader’s Digest