Until a few years ago, word nerd that I am, I never did crossword puzzles. And then I read a mystery novel that revolved around crosswords and got intrigued. Now I can whip through the ones that appear in my local paper in 15 minutes or less. (That's excluding Sunday's edition which is tougher and which I haven't really focused on yet.)
I've long believed that one of the reasons I love to quilt is that piecing a top is actually puzzle making where you get to make the pieces and put them together. When I watch my husband make a cabinet or drawer or anything else out of wood, I realize he's using the same process.
Graphic design is the same, taking bits from other places, ideas that have been sparked by something you've seen or heard and putting them together in a way that's distinct and, hopefully, interesting. So is soup-making, garden design, enjoying a good mystery novel, even getting getting dressed in a conscious way in the morning. It's all putting smaller bits together to make something new to solve a problem. And with so many HUGE problems in our lives, solving the little ones creates feeling-good moments.
The articles in the Times, one of them especially, talked about the science behind the love of solving things like math or crossword puzzles, that this activity triggers an opening of the mind where non-linear solutions appear as if by magic. It's the place where inspiration comes from.
Hmmm, let's see, 17 Down, a six-letter word meaning "prior to."
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