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Lessons Learned from Playing Solitaire
By Tess Goldblatt, Education Coordinator
1. Routines are essential, and breaking them can be amazing.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." I agree with Emerson and add a twist. "Wise consistencies are essential, but a wisely-chosen inconsistency is the hallmark of a great mind."Routines serve many purposes in our lives.
In my case, I wake up to a very quiet home with a choir of birdsong outside. I let my dog out, pour a cup of iced coffee, let the dog in, and sit down to play Solitaire on the computer.While I sip my coffee and play, I wake up and reflect on the days…yesterdays, todays, and tomorrows. The first thing I've learned (actually re-learned) is that having routines is good.I feel comforted by this routine.Its predictability is reassuring.If I miss my morning games of Solitaire, you can be sure it's for a wise reason.
Teachers and parents give kids the gift of routines all the time. Bedtime routines and classroom routines are fundamental survival skills.Kids find comfort in the predictability of these parts of their lives. These are very wise consistencies!But let's think about the power of a wisely-chosen inconsistency…. Imagine what kind of powerful message we send when we break the bedtime routines once in a while to stay up late to hear Kol Nidre or for a Megillah Reading or a congregational Shabbat dinner?
2. Reflection time is essential.
Part of my brain attends to seeing the patterns of Solitaire as fast as I can.Part of my brain attends to problem-solving skills.The computerized version of Solitaire allows many kinds of creative, solution-oriented plays, so I challenge myself to play through until the computer flashes me the "End Game" option, saying, "There are no more possible moves."
Apparently, activity in those parts of the brain free up another part of my brain to reflect and process.The idea for this article has come to me over time, while playing Solitaire.Realizations that I need to apologize to someone have come to me while playing Solitaire.Forgotten tasks resurface while I play, and ideas for poems and skits, and Family Ed programs have surfaced during these times of quiet reflection.
Our sanctuary is another place where reflection can happen.And so is the beach!Have you ever experienced our taschlich program?As you reflect on your past year and the coming year, the tactile process of casting bread into open waters and watching it transform can be spiritually powerful.
Carving out time to reflect can be very rewarding in surprising ways.Mark your calendars for Oct 5th at 10AM for Taschlich at Huntington Beach.
3. Problem-solving skills can be exercised.
Playing Solitaire to "End Game" keeps the problem-solving part of my brain exercised. Sometimes I have to push myself several rounds until I finally see the next play.Help your kids tape the torn pages in their books.Glue the broken corner of a figurine back on.Mend a tear.Teach your kids how to sew buttons back on.Play some Solitaire and think of a new way to find a piece of land for our new location.
4. Small changes can lead to big results.
It takes patience to play Solitaire when only one card changes each round, but
I've learned that one small change can rapidly open up a slew of other plays and lead to a big win.One new card affects the next play and the next play and the next play.Before I know it, the winning cards are cascading down my computer screen.
At gladwell.com, I read an interview with Malcolm Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.He put it this way, "Things can happen all at once, and little changes can make a huge difference." And, "One of the things I'd like to do is to show people how to start "positive" epidemics of their own. The virtue of an epidemic, after all, is that just a little input is enough to get it started, and it can spread very, very quickly. That makes it something of obvious and enormous interest to everyone from educators trying to reach students, to businesses trying to spread the word about their product, or for that matter to anyone who's trying to create a change with limited resources."[Emphasis added]
Pick up a piece of trash in a parking lot and watch to see if anyone else who saw you does the same thing.Infect a friend or two with your considered opinions and good ideas and watch the epidemic go to work. Write an article. Maybe someone will read it. Maybe we'll move sooner than we think.
5. Even in Solitaire, there is Teshuva.
Playing the computerized version of Solitaire, when you get to "There are no more possible moves," you can choose to quit, or you can choose to "Return and try again."How amazing would life be if each time we made a mistake, we got a pop-up window that gave you the option to "Return and try again?"
The sound of the shofar is like that pop-up window, reminding us we can always "Return and try again."Even though we most-often think of teshuva as repentance, it literally means turning or returning.As we approach the High Holiday season, play a few games of Solitaire and see what lessons you might glean. If a computer game can give me permission for teshuva, surely I can give myself permission to "Return and try again."
Tess Goldblatt
Education Coordinator
240-4475
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