New for My Blog in 2012

I did a bit of soul-searching about my blog and the direction it was going. Truth be told, I love the focus of my blog. I love doing character assessments and posts on how psychology can improve fiction writing. I'm a therapist. This is what I do in real life.

But I'm also a wife, a mother, daughter, and sister. Psychology and faith works together in my everyday life, and I haven't shared a whole lot of that up until now, and that's what's going to change for 2012.

That, and I'm likely going to start posting three days a week. Not sure about that change yet. 

I came to a conclusion while on my three-week vacation over the holidays. Technology gets in the way of relationships. At one point, I was sitting in the living room with my entire family, and we were all on our lap tops at the same time. One family member even texted me from another room. Seriously!

Where's the connection in that? I made a resolution to spend less time on the computer and more time visiting, TALKING. To do so, I found the best vehicle in the world to facilitate this between family members: a jigsaw puzzle.

I had bought one of these puzzle caddies for my parents a while back (which is just a piece of felt that you wrap around a cardboard tube) that enables you to use table space while you are still in the assembly process. It was gold!

My parents, my husband, my brothers--we all sat around the table and put together two different 1000-piece puzzles together in about a week. The jigsaw caddy worked great.

But the big change was that the television was set off, the computers were left charging, and relationships were nurtured with communication, laughter, and good-natured ribbing when one person found the missing edge piece ahead of another. Not to mention the feeling of accomplishment of a job well done. (Did you SEE how hard these two puzzles were?)

In truth, when the mind if occupied with a seemingly "mindless" activity like putting together a puzzle, coloring, playing with playdoh, etc., the tongue loosens. I do it all the time in therapy, so I tried it with my family. The result was tons of communication about topics that hadn't been brought up in years, if at all. It was wonderful!

True, I was waaaaay behind checking my email and watching my television programs (that I watch online after my child goes to sleep), but so much the better for it. Everyone was in agreement too.  So next time you're around family members, give it a try!

Let's Analyze: How many of you are jigsaw puzzle people? Do you own one of those nifty caddies?

Bonus: And for those of you who only post 3 days a week, what do you feel you lose from not posting 5 days a week? (I don't have to ask what you gain: TIME!)