Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Pieces of the Puzzle

                      

Four-sided puzzle, each side depicts a different seasonal activity. Time has not separated the pieces, they fit together comfortably, though some are tattered, and worn smooth, they are needed to make the puzzle whole.

Pieces of the puzzle that make us who we are… each piece, each feeling or thought, depicts another reality, a moment of our lives. We are separate, together, whole and incomplete.

Some of you are the sun in the corner, or the star at night. Some of us are the busy bees gathering the honey, and sometimes we can sting. Each of us has worn tattered parts, each of us are telling a story with the pieces of our lives.

Tell me something about yourself.

I am terrified to fly, if I want to see my family in California, flying is a necessity. I am a vegetarian who wears leather, and sleeps with a down comforter. I had a hard time putting this puzzle together; these two scenes are not suppose to be on the same side…

Puzzles don’t have to fit, they can have missing pieces.

Photo of a 1900s antique puzzle, that I found at the Gardanne Brocante last week.

Comments

44 responses to “Pieces of the Puzzle”

  1. Penny

    Love this! I am a tiny lady who dresses in the most casual clothes possible and I long to be the kind of person who wears bangles and beads and layers of gauze in the most elegant and negligent way. So – I decorate my artbooks with lots of lush colors, beads and gauzy material. There’s more than one way to put your personal puzzle together!

    Reply
  2. katie

    Never thought of the 4 sided puzzle 🙂 Makes sense though – I’m still discovering parts of my puzzle which aren’t faded by the sun as yet and believe love can change almost anything – am also a leather wearing vegetarian

    Reply
  3. blackbird

    I worry and fret…
    I would never be able to leave that puzzle without completely solving it.
    I need to finish things.

    Reply
  4. Josephine

    I feel most fully comprehend the bredth and scope of my life when I’m alone, outdoors, under the stars, on a warm summer night.

    Reply
  5. Jeanne

    I am glad I fit into your piece of life my precious one.
    My puzzle has been broken and scattered and fragile at times.
    I am putting it back together piece by piece and getting stronger as it is being rebuilt!
    We all have a story to tell of the fragments of our lives. All intricate and interblending!
    I thank you for your love and friendship.
    Both mean the absolute world to me!
    Love Jeanne

    Reply
  6. Cat

    Beautiful post today Corey!
    I often say my life is like a crazy quilt, a variety of pieces, some tattered and torn, some fancy, some plain…yet all stitched together. Sometimes I have to add more stitches to hold things together, and sometimes I throw a flower on to hide a stain.

    Reply
  7. Teresa

    You have such a beautiful way with words and photos.
    I never thought of my life as a puzzle – more like a beloved china platter dropped and broken. Then pieced together with patches and glue. Crazed yet still beautiful. A little chipped around the edges, but still useful. Years of serving others with no thought of myself – then when the “c” word kicked everything away – really discovered strength, inspiration, self love, more love for others, and so much more. So maybe a puzzle is a better way to see it. Because all of those cracks and crevaces are supposed to be there. And yet your eye fills them in to complete that beautiful picture.
    I am so glad to have stumbled upon your blog – still a daily read. It is quite obvious that others have met and fallen in love with you through this medium. Thank you my friend for giving me a new perspective again.

    Reply
  8. Anne

    Where and how you come up with these ideas, I can’t even begin to imagine, but they enlighten all of us…in our own personal way. Thank you, Corey. =)
    I used to be terrified of flying as well. My ex-husband was a pilot, which made this exceptioanlly difficult. I would board the plane, sit down and read the safetly card front to back (as though doing that was somehow insurance against a disaster). I would then clench the armrests and pray…for my kids if I didn’t return, for all of us on the plane, etc.
    Over time, I realized that it was in God’s hands, and there wasn’t a stinking thing I could do about it…I was on this hulking piece of machinery, and what happened happened…whether I liked it or not. Once I was able to relax a bit, I started to actually enjoy the rocking of the normal turbulence.
    It’s a bit like a rollercoaster…and so is life…you can either hold on for dear life and close your eyes and brace yourself for every little bump or you can relax and see it all a laugh along the way.
    PS…It took me YEARS to get to this point…I hope your can get there someday, too.
    And have a safe wonderful trip!
    ~anne

    Reply
  9. andrea

    I loved this. Your words especially captivated me today. I think we all feel these “contradictions” in our life. We are complex I suppose.
    Beautiful post.
    a.

    Reply
  10. Catalina

    Thank you Corey for this post! I always thought of me as a puzzle……..a changing one, like those ones very difficult with both sides same image but turn….:) Blackbird: Puzzles ARE finished already, even if not for us. Everything is already there, that is the amazing part!

    Reply
  11. susanna

    You are such a great writer, Corey. Today’s post has my mind spinning with art ideas about puzzle blocks and self identity. I’m imagining the pieces of me as a continually changing block puzzle. On one side is the me in my home country, on another is the me in my new country. The woman I was then and the woman I am becoming now. On the third side is my artwork, another form of my identity. And the fourth side? Well, that’s always blank. It’s the unknown, the future me, perhaps?

    Reply
  12. amber

    I just love– and I am so inspired– by the way you take beautiful pictures of interesting objects, and then show us what they make you think about. So good. So creative!
    And these words are an idea I often think about, and try to make sense of. We all have contrasts. But I like things to fit where they should! I like to understand things. LOL!
    I am a humanitarian social worker type, who has for years been deeply irritated by the Democratic Party. Dosen’t fit.
    I am a person who likes things to be natural and wears little makes, who used to work for a huge make-up company. No sense.
    I am a thrify person, who is not a “shopper”, and hates to spend money. But I will spend much more money then I should on books I can never seem to have the time to read! I can barely walk by a book and not buy it! Ha!
    🙂

    Reply
  13. expatraveler

    I love puzzles like this, especially this one because it looks older and just beautiful. These are the types of puzzles kids need to enjoy the most…

    Reply
  14. marybeth

    Dearest Corey,
    THe puzzle is beautiful-just like you!
    Some ideas to help with FOF(fear of flying)
    Find a meditation CD and practice with it at least a week before flying. One that brings you into a meditative state. With it practice Yogic breath
    ~in slowley to 4-6(depending on the individual)
    and out 5-4-3-2-1
    I do this before sleep ,others like to do this in the morning or even several times a day until it becomes natural and comforting.
    Put the Cd player on on the way to the Airport and as soon as you get seated on the plane.
    ~take medication if it helps~some take Benedryl`others a prescription RX like Xanax. No shame in either-whatever helps and brings comfort is a good thing*
    My last flight I brought some images and colored with a new set of colored pencils. I also brought an art magazine and cut out images for later use. The person next to me was terribly curious-perhaps thought i was a bit odd-but i just let myself go and enjoyed the experience.
    I also took pictures when I could and was amazed how well they turned out and I had fun digitally enhancing them.
    Finally remember – flying is safer now then ever and is much safer then driving at any time.
    XO
    MB

    Reply
  15. julie

    corey,
    this is one of my favorite posts to date. i am too humbled to even attempt any words…
    except for, “thank you.”
    love, julie

    Reply
  16. kit

    My puzzle pieces seem to be turned to the out-of words, introverted side today. I know there is the the rest of me round the corner – maybe tomorrow I’ll be bright side up.

    Reply
  17. diana

    My life is like a book…. and I am halfway thru it… some pages are tattered and yellow and some pages have yet to be turned….
    maybe there will be a surprise ending !!

    Reply
  18. frida

    I’m a feminist who loves fashion. Poetry is my first love but I gotta have my People magazine. I love yoga but have to beat myself into going to class. Country music and classical? yes to both.

    Reply
  19. Britt Arnhild Lindland

    I remember I used to play with a puzzle like this when I was a little girl. Growing up I forgot to play, just put the pieces together where thay always fitted best. Now, aged 48, married for 26 years to the man I love, 4 wonderful kids, a job I can’t think of living without…..I have started to play again, this time trying out odd combinations of the pieces. AND I LOVE IT!

    Reply
  20. Lilly

    I once was fearless when it came to flying and then I had my son which made me afraid of flying with him and without him. We make four cross-country flights a year and once I had to get off the plane with him just before we took off. That day I rented a very cool convertible and bought a new lego for him and we took a flight the next day with the aid of gin in my water bottle.

    Reply
  21. Paris Parfait

    I think we are each part of a complex interlocking puzzle. Like you, I hate flying. I used to get on a plane two or three times a week; now I can’t bear it and have to talk myself through it and distract myself with books during the entire cross-Atlantic flight. I think certain aspects of our personal puzzles become more dominant at different times in our lives. And maybe, as we get older, we know how precious and fragile life is and we are reluctant to take risks we once would have done without thinking. Your post is beautiful, as always, Corey. Thank you!

    Reply
  22. weirdbunny

    This is my bad side of the puzzle. I’m lazy, judgemental and far to opionated. The good side is I’m loving, kind and happy. Can they all fit together, well somehow they do too make me.

    Reply
  23. mary ann

    we are all made up of little {& big} bits & pieces that when pieced together make our “whole”, aren’t we?
    & we are always giving some piece(s)away, depending on the person/people, time & circumstance…
    i’d like to think that my blog helps me bring all my pieces together…
    …& something about me…i do not know how to swim…i tried once to overcome my fear of drowning {bec. i almost did once when i was a child}, but it was not successful…& that’s one regret of mine bec. i so love the ocean, the sea…but i guess that’s why there’s lifesavers for non-swimmers like me!
    happy travels corey…i usually say a couple of “hail marys” & “our fathers” before takeoff & landing!
    🙂 mary ann xo

    Reply
  24. Jenny

    Wonderful tand thought provoking Corey! My puzzle has pieces missing and hidden at times…sometimes in the darkness. I have a long and arduous journey to find the hidden pieces and when I do they are in the sunlight fitting into the rest of the puzzle. I hate to fly but I LOVE birds…and I love my husband who is a pilot. I love to stand in the yellow wheat in the blazing noon sun and sing…and cry in the same field at night under the pale moon. I am contrasts. Wild and serene, warrior and at peace. Thank you for helping me find some missing pieces today.

    Reply
  25. Tammy

    I hope to meet you one day in California! I got an email from Shelley, she is very excited to see you! The puzzle looks beautiful and I completely agree with you!
    I love God,decorating and Dave! I can be bossy, but nicely and I love a soft bed.

    Reply
  26. Franca Bollo

    Flying is the one time I feel it’s perfectly acceptable to drink yourself silly — as long as you’re not an obnoxious drunk.
    Intelligence is being able to hold in your head two disparate opinions (or mismatched puzzle pieces?) at the same time on a given subject.

    Reply
  27. MB

    I loved these puzzles as a child. I used to try to mix them up to make the “wrong” pieces into pictures of their own. It didn’t work smoothly, of course, but sometimes produced some interesting juxtapositions. Play is the essence of discovery for me. Curiousity is what makes it possible.
    I thought of you today while taking pictures of the roses on my piano, Corey.

    Reply
  28. MB

    I loved these puzzles as a child. I used to try to mix them up to make the “wrong” pieces into pictures of their own. It didn’t work smoothly, of course, but sometimes produced some interesting juxtapositions. Play is the essence of discovery for me. Curiousity is what makes it possible.
    I thought of you today while taking pictures of the roses on my piano, Corey.

    Reply
  29. mikaelah

    I love your tile puzzle. We are all a bit of a puzzle even to ourselves it seems… looking for clues to see who we really are.

    Reply
  30. jennifer

    I’m not afraid to fly (but I am of heights!) I’m not a vegetarian (but I eat of lot of veggie meals) I don’t weather leather (except for shoes) & I sleep with a pretty cotton quilt..
    And I’m certainly not the busy bee part of the puzzle!

    Reply
  31. Annie

    I thought these were tiles at first glance. These look so smooth and soft with age, Corey. I wish I could touch them.

    Reply
  32. herhimnbryn

    Ditto, a non meat eater ( but I eat fish,shame on me!). Ditto, leather shoes. Don’t you just enjoy wearing a good pair of well made leather shoes? Ditto, down quilt, so cosy. Sometimes I puzzle myself, however, as I get older ( and I hope a little wiser), I realise that I can’t be all things to all people, I can only be me. So, I potter on carrying my puzzlement around my shoulders like a well worn and favourite shawl. I am me, hear me roar!
    Once a gain Corey, you have got me thinking. Thankyou.

    Reply
  33. Linda

    My husband and I did an around the world trip and we figured out that by the end we had spent a week(!) in the air. That doesn’t count the time sitting in airports, checking in, waiting to take off. I don’t mind flying if I have a good book but I hate the rest of the process. If I were a puzzle I would have my life and family in the States on one side and my life in France with my husband on the other.

    Reply
  34. Catalina

    one of my sisters is also terrified to fly or when one of us is flying…….Once I took a plane with her, ONLY 35 minutes……..the longest fly I never did!……:)…each 2 or 3 seconds she said: what is happening?!!!! this is moving!
    I would suggest that you take a plane with somebody that you love and is very scared of flying……..then you have to give her(him) support and you forget about your own “peur”

    Reply
  35. susan@artesprit

    there are no pieces missing to your puzzle my dear!
    there are levels of all sorts of committments.

    Reply
  36. homemakerang

    were you not a stewardess for an airline at one time? why did i think that

    Reply
  37. endment

    When all of our pieces are spread out – We find that we are multi-sided – It is always important to look beyond the surface when looking at myself, at a friend or an acquaintance.
    This is a great find!
    Delightful!

    Reply
  38. Shannon Lewis

    You make me laugh…a vegetarian who wears leather and sleeps with a down comforter…priceless 🙂
    I love to sit on the front porch during a thunderstorm.
    I love my children dearly and bask in the noise they make, but I love silence when they’re out with their dad.

    Reply
  39. la vie en rose

    thank you for this invitation to share…right now my puzzle is a bit scattered. my partner of 5 years (and the father of my son) and i are really struggling and honestly i feel like i’ve already got one foot out the door. i’m trying to decide what scene my puzzle will reveal–staying and trying to work through things, hoping for change, or starting over, alone but less conflicted and without the struggle i’ve been feeling lately…who knows right now what the puzzle will hold…i’m just putting it together one piece at a time.

    Reply
  40. arttealife/onecrabapple

    I bitch about the air here but I still drive near and far.
    I say women should not be ruled by thier hair but I still pay alot to get mine done.
    I bite my nails.

    Reply
  41. katie

    I love this entry, thank you. I have a 4 sided puzzle which helps me visualize myself as it. I was once a vegetarian who wore leather and had a feather pillow and down comforter – these incongruities tormented me every day. I started eating meat 4 years ago after 17 years of a meatless diet – I did so for personal health reasons. I was once afraid to fly and wouldn’t do it for years, or drive over bridges; now I love to fly – take offs and landings thrill rather than frighten me, I especially love to be above the clouds. I do have dreams about a plane I’m on crashing. My puzzle is made up of layer upon layer of pictures, like an onion, one block changes, then another, and before I know it, it’s turned into a new picture. yes, it does feel like that.

    Reply
  42. jinxthegypsy

    Interesting post, Corey . I’m impulsive…I love bright colours and i just love puzzles.

    Reply
  43. stephanie s

    oh, it is nice to visit again, even a few days is too long without checking in… i am working on the tattered pieces of my puzzle, but looking forward to putting it all together. thanks corey, for being here, and for being you….
    -s

    Reply
  44. wishes Heros

    I love puzzles that have a few missing parts. I love the ones who dont seem to fit at the first look….

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions