Playing Solitaire in a Tempest

The game of solitaire originated in the late 1700s and was also called Patience.

I like that... Patience. A game of patience. I would also submit that playing solitaire is a calming activity.

As a matter of fact, solitaire can be so riveting that you ignore the tempest being waged outside (or in some cases inside) your home.

The political storms waged daily have a numbing effect on your mojo. Playing a game of Klondike (the most popular solitaire variation today) challenges your mind while passing the time.

To keep your interest solitaire offers a variety of games to play. There's Mahjong solitaire, Peg solitaire, Klondike, Spider, Yukon and FreeCell.

It doesn't stop there.

Decks Solitaire offers up hundreds of variations of the game.

Let's go back to the original name of the game... Patience. It takes patience to play any of the variations. You have to be diligent and creative to win.

Read, Much More Than a Diversion: The Mathematics of Solitaire via BBVA OpenMind.

More advantages to playing.

For one, there's never any arguments (unless of course you have multiple personalities).

It keeps you away from social media and the lies and misinformation that spew into the national discourse like toxic chemicals through the suburbs and rural America.

You can listen to music as you cruise along in a game of OpenCell or Klondike.

As it stands, playing solitaire is only a diversion and it won't solve your problems, but it's a nice break from reality now and then.