What is more important physical or mental wellness?

What are you creating at the moment?

Me? Well this is one of my first makes for over 6 weeks. Can you believe it?

Yep, at the end of November I was forced to realise that crocheting, knitting + baristing was bad for my arm.

{Great that both of my businesses were becoming busier and busier, but not so great for the muscles in my arm}

Oh the irony.

I was living my dream, working in the coffee van of the morning and creating for mavis and flo in the afternoon. The stars had aligned.

My body however had other ideas. By December 1st I could not even hold a pen. My arm and hand was useless. And the consistent pain was really ridiculous.

I taught myself how to do many of the things left handed, but some things either needed 2 hands or my dominant right hand.

I gave up crochet and knitting so I could continue making coffees until the van closed for Christmas.

Christmas is never a great time for me emotionally so I had all of these great kits + yarns I received for my birthday that I had planned to dive into over the Christmas period.

But I had to put them out of the way, out of sight, it honestly hurt my heart to look at them. The same with Pinterest and Instagram, I could not look at these apps with so many inspirational ideas and busy, productive people.

How did I keep myself entertained during this time? Well my brilliant daughter gave me a colouring in book which I coloured using my left hand, I read, a lot.  I started to get back to writing, so  I wrote {typed} a bit too. And I hate to admit it, I started to play one of those silly little games on my phone that only required me to tap on the screen with one finger.

It felt like the biggest waste of time.

But I guess my arm and hand was healing, although my mind and heart was not in a great place. But I did it, I gave my arm the rest that it obviously needed.

So this week, I have tentatively picked up the hook and needles again. {But I ensure that I always do my arm and finger stretches first}

And can I tell you, it felt amazing. To get swept up in the stitches, in the mesmerising rhythm, my goodness it is something else to me completely. Nothing makes my heart soar like crocheting and knitting. To see something emerge from hook and yarn. It takes me to my happy place. My mind and heart is calm. {Finally}

As for the coffee van? {My other love of chatting,pouring and making yummy coffee?} Well I’ve decided to close the doors for the summer. For 2 months. Yes it will be tough, and although it feels like a waste to time, I have to remind myself, this time while my body continues to heal, my soul will be healing too.

Take care,

Melissa