Let's talk: Mental Health & Sewing

 Hi there!!I know it has been a while since you heard from me so i thought i would check in today.

The week that ended,from the 9th to the 15th May 2022 was Mental Health Awareness week and the theme was - LONELINESS.I wanted to post something in line with  it last week but then life happened and i did not get to writing it,but what do you know?here i am better late than never!

                                          

What has sewing got to do with mental health?you may ask.Well let me share with you my little story.Growing up my mother had a black singer machine,the very vintage one that i believe most of us have seen in our homes.I do not recall ever seeing her using it and i think it was because it was broken and she did not have the means to fix it, however one thing she did not fail to do was to paint the love to me she had for sewing,she would tell stories of how much she used to do it when she lived in Zimbabwe,it really got me excited to know that part of my mother's history because she cherished it and it was one of her sweet memories,she told the story and made me feel like i was there all along!

Then i grew up and picked sewing as a hobby (about 8years ago) and my mother became my biggest cheerleader,she always marveled at the things i created even the not so good looking ones 😄. In most times her comment would be 'you took my gift and ran with it'. There were times i would get stuck on a sewing project  and i would call her for advice and i just loved how alive she would be giving me advice and ideas and anxiously waiting for the outcome.The best times that i treasure though are the ones when i would make something then she would finish if off with some hand sewing while we sit and chat💗pity i do not have photos of such a time.

Fast forward my mom passed away in July 2019 and it was such a huge blow on me,my heart sank.I felt paralysed and not long after this (September) another loss in my family happened that just felt like it was burying me further down.Blow after blow if you know what i mean.I found myself drifting from any and everything that used to give me life,even the source of life Himself *sigh.I really dragged myself through life during that phase.Then 2020 corona emerged and i was working from home which meant i was spending my days alone as my husband was still going to work full time.Just me and my melancholic thoughts all day!Then one day i decided that through the help of God i was going to gather the threads of my life and stitch them into thanksgiving,one day at a time.I would have naturally resorted to exercise but because of the lock downs i could not do outdoors and did not have the motivation for exercising indoors.I wondered what i would do, then ahhha!my sewing! so there i dusted my sewing machines and sewed away my blues!sewing from sunrise to sunset hahahaha and my fabric stash went down quicker than i had gathered it 😁. At the end of the lock down about 6 or so weeks to my surprise i had made a whole wardrobe! some of which i shared on this blog.My days went by much better than before and i had something to look forward to doing and learning each day.

In summary this is how i was impacted by my craft:

• I listened to uplifting podcasts and audio bible during my sewing time
  

• My existence outside the craft was temporarily suspended- not like running away from my problems kind of a thing,but the level of concentration,calmness and creativity that goes with sewing i really got distracted from the noises in my heart.
•  Wearing something i have successfully created gave me that 'feel good' pill.A huge sense of accomplishment.
  
• I counted my blessings of having had my mother as my mother and locked all the loving memories in my heart rather than focusing on her absence.
  

Although this is not the reason why i picked sewing as a hobby it has definitely benefited me from an angle that i never imagined possible.I did not have a defined mental illness but i believe if i had not refocused my mind and heart i could have easily spiraled into a dark hole of depression which most people who grieve pass through.I turned the brokenness of my heart into creativity,my tears into stitches and i did not feel ALONE. I soldiered on,life had to be lived even with everything going on in my heart :-)

There is a lot of good that can come out of having some creative outlet, to do something as a preventative measure rather than adopt it later as a cure.Instead of waiting to break down invest in things that would prevent you getting to that that stage in the first place.

How has sewing affected your life or what is the one thing that you do that boosts your mental health?