I have always had a different, new craft. My first craft was sewing which I started learning at 5 years old, but since then I’ve explored it all: jewelry-making, origami, shibori dyeing, painting, cross-stitching, and more. And every time I start something new, I dive in deep. Every new craft is THE the craft. It is THE medium that will keep me happy and engaged for the rest of my life. I always believe it will be my life’s expertise, but I am always wrong. I always get good enough and then somethin else catches my eye. I always viewed this a character flaw on my part, but my perspective has changed after literally losing, and then finding, myself.

Recover.

In January 2023, I started yet another craft and started learning to bead with size 11/0 seed beads. Right as I was getting good at my new craft, I had a unexplained hemorrhagic stroke at 29 years old that left me paralyzed on my left side. I lost almost all motor function in my left leg, arm, and hand. I immediately grieved the ability to craft. It was at this moment, the moment when I no longer had the physical ability, that I realized exactly how important being able to create was to my identity as a person. I had lost myself in a way I will never be able to fully describe.

After 10 days in the ICU, I spent a month at the Shepherd Center, a rehabilitation hospital in Atlanta, GA, where my occupational and recreational therapists encouraged my creativity to help me get movement back in my left hand and arm. My friend brought me markers and a sketchbook and I started one-armed doodling. A couple of weeks later, my husband brought my bead box and I started beading again right there in the hospital. This functional therapy, especially beading, has helped me gain back full motor function in my left arm and hand.