Like Violets in Early Spring

So in spite of everything, violets are blooming in the forest around my house. One day there were none, the next day, they’re everywhere.

I’ve been chatting about this with Elizabeth Gilbert. In her book BIG MAGIC, Liz cites a mathematician whose father told him to publish his ideas quickly, because “When the time is right for certain things, they appear at different places, in the manner of violets coming to light in early spring.”

In science this is called “multiple discovery.” It happens a lot: calculus, oxygen, and evolution were discovered at the same time by different scientists.

Well, last week, right here, I tripped over something similar. I mentioned that right before the pandemic, I felt compelled to buy lots of jigsaw puzzles. I mean LOTS. During the shutdown, when puzzles sold out everywhere, I had some to give our desperately bored neighbors.

After that post, over a dozen of you told me that YOU TOO had felt compelled to stock up on supplies BEFORE the pandemic. About 10% SPECIFICALLY ORDERED JIGSAW PUZZLES.

Is it just me, or is it weird that several unrelated people went into a puzzle-buying frenzy for no apparent reason?

Like multiple discovery, this tickled my spider-senses. It made me suspect we’re all connected, drops in one universal sea of consciousness that lifts all boats—or puzzles—with its tides.

Some of you saw this as a metaphor. What is the global situation right now but a massive puzzle? And what are we but a species that loves to puzzle things out?

What if we’ve all decided, at some unfathomable level, to solve the biggest puzzle ever? To stop in our tracks, look at the world we’ve created, and decide how to fix what wasn’t working?

When I’m tired of reading bad news about an unknowable future, this thought comforts me. Humans love puzzles. We go LOOKING for puzzles. And when a huge puzzle faces us all, we set to work solving it.

It may not be today, but watch: At some point, ideas for how to rearrange this chaos into a better world will start emerging. One day they won’t be there, and the next they’ll be everywhere. Like violets in the spring.

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May 7, 2020
AT 3:03 PM

Amy

I also had an urge to buy a 3D puzzle that I saw at a bookstore in January but I resisted because I didn’t think I would have the time to touch it. Now I wish I did. Why do I always do this to myself?

May 8, 2020
AT 8:38 AM

Kathleen Barnes

My spider sense told me to liquidate some stock and pay off all my bills. Then I purchased…for cash…a huge amount of art supplies. I am an artist who was working at something else part time. Quarantine turned into my dream of painting everyday. So glad I listened to whoever was whispering in my dreams.

May 10, 2020
AT 12:15 PM

Sandra

Beautiful! Thank you!

July 21, 2020
AT 12:34 PM

Christy Pollock

My story begins as I had planned for an early retirement at my late February 2020 birthday and looked forward to enjoying my backyard. But I was ill then, with a ragged cough but no fever. Covid-19 was but a tiny trickle of news in the middle of the country and testing was not yet available. So I waited ill at home with allergies according to my doctor. And that waiting came from hearing my spirit say, Wait. Then by mid-March my campus closed, and I was sent home to work. And so my dream began – working from home and seeing my own “meadow yard” with old oak trees, purple violets, growing baby birds, bees, butterflies. I’m in heaven. Here in mid-July, it looks like my position will remain working at home through the end of the year. So, with unemployment high, jobs scarce and the future unknown, I’m staying put and ever-grateful for this interesting and unusual time in my life. Puzzle solved!

October 28, 2020
AT 4:09 PM

gita jones

when I heard of the idea of simply changing the rules and structure instead of working inside something that has stopped working – I felt I was hearing one of the new core movements: Hey, just put more people on the Supreme Court, just change the job description of police and expand the jobs of mental health workers, just quit driving so much and work from home and from small hives and pods. Just chuck the public school system and put it back looking very different….like that….

December 11, 2021
AT 3:24 AM

Jivan Dios

Thank you dear Martha.

May 28, 2023
AT 2:34 PM

Brenda

That is interesting. I also bought several puzzles. And about midway through the pandemic, I left a high-stress, laborious job, to be at home full time. I had worked outside previously, so I wanted to continue that each day. I decided to start planting roses and flowers. I kept buying plants, bulbs, bare roots, and seeds, etc. My husband raised an eyebrow a few times about my mail orders, as they were coming in frequently. But he remained supportive, as he saw how much I was enjoying my tasks. I started paying attention to all of the living things in my yard. I learned alot. That downtime got me in touch with myself, and opened my eyes to a much needed journey of healing. It was painful, and not easy. I started counseling. I found out, even though I was functioning and had always worked hard, I was struggling with anxiety sometimes, complicated grief and had experienced some symptoms of cPTSD. I survived a lot of childhood trauma, and suddenly I was face to face with all of the memories and emotions. My doctors said I needed to be kind to myself, and learn to accept that I could not be Superwoman. I’m a mom, with adult children, and now a grandmother. I continued to buy roses and plants, and I started to feel better. I’ve continued therapy, started meditating, learning some yoga, eating healthier and reading more. It hasn’t been perfect, but I do know I made the right decision for myself. I didn’t know how much healing I really needed, after so many years of giving to everyone else. I had been using my work to cover that up. The pandemic changed how I feel about myself, and how I operate everyday. I’ve started learning new things, like how to be kind to my inner-child, and live in each moment. I just turned 47, and am enjoying my beautiful roses and flowers in bloom now. This “homework” means more to me than a paycheck. Thankfully I have a supportive family as an adult. And I broke the cycle of abuse for my children. I’m not sure where my healing journey will take me, but I do know I needed to stop the hamster wheel I was on. I’m feeling grateful each and every day for that. It feels like now, I’m working on the puzzle of “me”.