Puzzles

In my time at the Casa so far, the most surprising thing has been our chosen community activity: doing puzzles. I’ve always enjoyed puzzles and trying to figure out where each piece fits. When I shared this bit of information with the house, we started our first puzzle that night.

We worked on that same puzzle for about a week and a half before we were (almost) finished. We only had one piece left to put in, but the piece was nowhere to be found! We were so upset that the puzzle couldn’t be completed.

As the house puzzles, we talk about a variety of things from the casual getting to know you things to delving into deeper territory. Sometimes people don’t even look up from the piece in their hand they were trying to find a home for as they talk to us around our puzzle board, but everyone listens nonetheless with our own puzzle pieces in hand of course.

In my family, I’ve always known where I belong, how I fit into the picture. This experience of intentional community is all very new to me. I’m faced with a new problem: how do I fit in?

A big part of me is anxious to know the answer to this question, to find my role and make sure I live up to it every time. However, another part of me remembers all of the laughter and smiles we’ve shared on the floor of the living room, trying to find where all 1000 pieces belong. I just want to take my time, piece by piece, to build a place in this community rather than plop myself into a role and mold the community around me.

I also think back to that first puzzle we did and how it never felt complete because one little piece was missing. Even though I don’t know exactly where my place in this puzzle is, I know that we each are what makes up this community and that without one of us, the house would feel incomplete.

Question for reflection: How can we enjoy not knowing more?