Little Thing 255 : The Maya Channel and Random Babbles

Okay. Let me let it out in the maya (because I need to let this out to free up the burden of talking alone in my head, did I forget how I manage the last 15 years - I've been writing to the invisible people in the internet as a coping mechanism kan). Plus, lately it's been mentally hard to survive one more waking day. I'm not depressed yet, just really stressed out, surviving. And I don't have friends, so I need a channel to express. 

Anyway, random sharing session.

Last week I went out twice to focus on work. I've never left Sofi for work in the past 3 years+ so this is a start. I searched for any coworking space in the area but couldn't find one suitable for me so I spent 4 hours sitting in my brother's cafe, finishing up my first draft for the Noko project I'm currently working on. I even brought my own matcha powder and soy milk (so my brother can make it for me - I'm lactose intolerant and I can't drink coffee anymore). Oh, I also already cooked foods in advance for the 2 days I'm away for work.

4 hours of uninterrupted working hour is a bliss. I forgot what it feels like, to focus solely on your task alone (I've been working while trying to take care of a toddler, so you can imagine if you tried doing that, not impossible - just chaotic). 

Then after the 2 days of working, I went out to socialize (for the first time in a loooooong time). I went out with Ms Chin, we watched Where the Crawdads Sing, we walked, we ate ramen, we chatted, after Ms Chin went back, I sat at a cafe for another 1 hour to continue on another client project. It's like, I actually have a life outside being a mother to a toddler. I forgot what it felt like.

The two things I bought when I went out that day were Muji's open-flat notebook for me to start writing a proper journal to manage my stress + anxiety, and also a croissant.

Next : one more thing I want to do is spent few hours at Kinokuniya. My current physical book wishlist : Hanya Yanagihara's To Paradise and Nell Stevens' Briefly, A Delicious Life in small paperback version. The 2 times we went to Kino, Sofi didn't even give me a chance to browse through and decided to play run and tag in the maze of books. 

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Well, it is then decided that I'm going to send Sofi to a play-school next year and I'm going to start working full-time again (because I'm getting ready for the recession). She's finally potty-trained (except at night when sleeping and for poopoo - still refuses to take it out in the loo). And she can't wait to make friends and have a teacher, so I guess she's ready to socialize. She's a total opposite of us, so we had to provide what we can't offer ourselves. 

Okay I just put Sofi to nap and reread the draft for the final time before clicking on publish. 

Little Thing 254 : Solving my First 1,000 pcs Puzzle

 

I finally finished my 1000 pieces Intergalactic Flora puzzle by a local illustrator and an online friend, @eurekartstudio. 

The gold hot stamp on the black background, the various colours from the amazing floral on galaxy illustration, it is beautiful! I took probably around 2 weeks (on and off) to finish up the puzzle. I took my sweet sweet time. There was a time when I spent 3 hours at night straight listening to an audiobook (I remember it was 'My Dark Vanessa'), then I had neck and shoulder pain the next few days later. 

It is my first 1000 pieces puzzle and surprisingly I learned a lot from this experience. 

• The first few hours were overwhelming. I felt like it is impossible to finish such a huge puzzle. 1000 pieces puzzle is crazy, whose idea was it to start a puzzle this big? I didn't think I can do it. I even felt anxious during the first week. 
• Then slowly, I took the smallest step : separating the puzzle into different colours. Different coloured flowers, leaves, gold stars, the black background. 
• I chose the smallest flower and tried to do that, slowly. Step by step, it started to become a bigger piece. I felt less overwhelm and became excited. The endorphins started kicking in every time a flower is formed. 
• Sometimes you can just put a random piece next to another random piece and it is somehow the right piece. Sometimes you have to come back to the same piece over and over again because it is not the time yet. 

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It felt like a metaphor to life. 

The 1000 pieces puzzle is connected but we need to find a way to connect each piece with one another. It feels overwhelming and impossible at first, but you need to take the smallest step and keep on moving forward. You'll feel like you won't make it and at times, you'll even stop and ignore it for a while. But sometimes, you can just sit and try again, ever so slowly, piece by piece, and it will form a bigger piece. Then you'll see the puzzle more clearly and everything will make sense. It gets easy when you know how to play the game. 

I'm happy I tried my first 1000 pieces puzzle. I'm off to find other next challenges for me to try next. 

Here are other great illustration puzzle pieces that you can buy online my personal favorite from Mideer

• Dragon Dance (220 pcs), 
• Firework Fair (1000 pcs), 
• Magic Book & Fairy Tales (280 & 330 pcs), 
• Human Geography (204 & 247 pcs)
• Feast in the Forest (528 pcs)

I'm teaching Sofi to play puzzles (since she turned 1.5 yr old), now she's 3 and she's currently up to 48 pcs puzzles. I'm surprised that she still gets excited about puzzles, and she plays puzzles daily. I usually buy puzzles from Mideer, Mr Diy, or Shopee (anything with good illustrations). She calls it "Pazo".

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Here I compiled some takes :