The Corner Piece

A jigsaw puzzle. Multiple pieces that make no sense apart and are a scattered mess of tiny snippets of a big picture waiting to form in front of you. So you find a corner piece and start assembling till that last, crucial piece clicks into place. The core, the thing of attraction, the final picture is usually the complicated centre pieces and not the corner, isolated ones which might just form the edge of the sky, a frame, a distant tree or even a tiny speck of hair or nail of the character you are building. The corner seems mundane compared to the attractive colours of the core. It seems to be a part of the puzzle and yet, could not be more faded into the background, for it is, usually the background.

The corner pieces are the ones that oh-so-beautifully fade into the background and bring the picture together. They bring shape to the mess of the elements inside. They fade, yet have an existence of their own, an essence of their being.

There are individuals who are never the centre of existence, the centre of attention, the colour of a place’s being, the magic of a moment. They’d rather slip into the background and live a life in their own galaxy of a head. They’d rather lie down and look up at the stars than build superficial relationships to the people around them. They’d rather stare down at the vast ocean and dissolve into its waves than worry about the issues at land. They choose to live in the stories in their heads and melt away the troubles of today, the loneliness of the present. They find it difficult, each day, to fit in, to open up, to trust that the world outside, will meet the standards of the beautiful galaxy of thoughts they have inside. Their brain is wired to dissolve into a tiny cocoon at the first sign of trouble, at the first hint of loneliness. Ironic, isn’t it? Choosing to be alone to avoid loneliness. Well, it is better to be alone than feel alone in a room full of people. They choose the life they want, the people they want and situations they want to be in. A constant nag, a tug they feel in the back of their heads makes them want to cancel plans, sit at home, curl up in their blankets and be away from the possibility of disappointment.

It is only when someone, breaks through this wall, empathises with their reasoning and cares enough to poke and prodder their cocoon, that they’ll allow you access to the rusted, sealed off corridor to their hearts, their trust. Their trust is hard to come by, and even harder to keep. They see the world as black and white, an absolute. It is either this or that, nothing in between. They are there for you till the end of the line or not at all, and they expect the same from you. It is either all in, or not at all. It’s the middle that worries them. Because it is easy to sway in the middle, to land up on the wrong side, away from them. It is the frightening, unstable middle that seals off the corridor. They make promises as sacred as the pinky promise and never look back. It is always, all in.

These are the people that more often than not, fade away into the background. They live a colourful, care free life in the shadows. It is the daily, the routine, the mundane that can provide the most enlightening experiences, only if you pay a little close attention to them. You’ll see them bobbing their head to a song playing in their head, smiling at the waves that wash their feet, dancing till their feet hurts, hugging you a little tighter if they see you low, giving that one encouraging nod you need so desperately. Because living in the background, living in the shadows, sensitises you to the emotions around you, the people around you.

In their head, they are the corner pieces. The pieces that fade away once the centre colour pops up. The ones overpowered by the the more interesting centre pieces. But the thing about jigsaw is that ever piece has a role to play, a place where it fits in. Every element contributes to the bigger picture, every piece plays a critical role. Miss one piece, and the puzzle is forever incomplete. The corner pieces might not always pop up, but they have a place in the puzzle. They belong. They contribute. They make the picture complete, beautiful. They make the picture. They bring it all together.

So if you have or ever do feel like a corner piece, know that without it, where would we even begin?