He’s “going through a lot right now.”

Diagnosis

So are you. You’re going through a lot right now with a 1,000-piece lighthouse puzzle, in silence, like a woman in a Nancy Meyers film who owns her home outright.

Treatment

Clear the table. Pour something. Put on the puzzle and nothing else: no podcast, no TV, no thinking. Find all the edge pieces first, because you, unlike some people, finish what you start. Sort the colors into little piles and give the sky its own jurisdiction.

The lighthouse takes four evenings. On the first, you will build the border. On the second, you will discover that every blue piece looks like every other blue piece. On the third, you will get weirdly good at recognizing tiny bits of cloud. This is a useful skill with no obvious application, which is more than can be said for waiting by your phone.

Use a roll-up mat if the table has other responsibilities. Light a candle marketed with a word like “Resolve” or “Quiet.” On the fourth evening you will realize you have not thought about him since the sky section, which was genuinely difficult and far more rewarding. Invite a friend to help if they can respect the puzzle’s chain of custody. Put the finished lighthouse somewhere visible for a week, then decide whether it deserves a frame or a dignified return to the box. Either is a completed project.

Fill Your Prescription

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• 1,000-piece lighthouse puzzle
• roll-up puzzle mat
• quiet candle
• bottle of wine

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Side Effects

You may become insufferable about puzzles. This is an upgrade.