The Universe has handed me one heck of a lesson this winter. I need to pace myself and learn to rest! I gleefully pushed myself through a brutal holiday season, producing hundreds more pieces of jewelry than in a typical season. It was really fun, and I felt quite creatively fulfilled. (The extra money didn't offend me, either.) Yes, my hands would hurt by evening, but I just sucked it up. That's what tough women do, right? Unfortunately, in early February, a little bumble with my (obnoxiously heavy) handbag yanked my left thumb back a bit. Ouch! But no big deal. It will heal right up in no time.
Except, it didn't. I had strained and exhausted my hands so badly that it has taken more than two months to rehab my left thumb. No beading (gasp!), no crocheting, no texting with my thumbs, no typing with my left hand, no cell phone solitaire. I couldn't clap at a Suns game. I couldn't even hold a paperback book open with my left hand. I had to completely and totally rest my hand. It's doubtful that I have EVER gone two months straight without continually using my hands to create something. It was like surgically removing a piece of my soul, and it was one hell of a wake up call.
It's still not fully recovered, but I can say that my hand is recovering. If, at any time, I push too hard I get another couple of days of pain and tingling. I'm pacing myself very gently, trying to catch up with client requests and orders. I'm learning that, sometimes, you just need to ask for help when the orders overwhelm you. (I do work with an amazing team of beaders, any of whom would have gladly stepped in to help last fall.) I'm learning to let myself be okay with running out of steam, getting tired and just letting myself rest.
"We are succulent! We are succulent with our shredded fantasies, our unread books, our misguided perfectionism, our hiding in bed eating rows of cookies, or neurotically running to and away from things. We are succulent Just Like This. Just the way we are NOW." ~ SARKLabels: beading, design, hand, injury, jewelry, left, Lezli Goodwin, pain, rehab, rest, SARK, thumb
