I received a lovely email recently from Terry who had just finished reading my book, Crochet Saved My Life. She shared her own story about how crochet has helped her through a very difficult time in life. I wanted to share what she said with you today (with her permission of course) because I truly believe that our individual stories are very powerful and sharing them is beneficial for ourselves and others.
Terry’s Story
In her own words, here’s what Terry shared with me:
“I just finished reading your book and enjoyed it very much. The only story I could not read was Em’s story. It is too close to my present situation. My husband lost his job and is continuing to look. Getting laid off was very hard on both us because we are too young to retire and too old to start over. In addition, I am legally blind and profoundly hearing impaired and felt totally helpless. I can’t work and if we lose everything cause we can’t find a job, I can’t do anything about that either. Who in the world would hire a deaf/blind person when a normal person couldn’t find a job? All I did was crochet, cry and pray. The crying got so bad that eventually that was all I did and began to really get down about things. Ruminating about everything. My husband made a comment to me that he was extremely concerned about my being down all the time. He said, “You are down and down all the time.” I came to the conclusion that he didn’t need me in a mess. I already had two crochet projects going and decided to up the ante on the crocheting. Now while my husband is busy looking for work, I am busy crocheting. Sometimes I crochet till my hands hurt but I am not crying. I can even laugh. So my mantra now is ‘we’re going to get a job, we’re going to get a job. Crochet and pray, pray and crochet. But I am not crying. The other benefit is, that even if I lose all my vision and all my hearing, I can still crochet.”
Crochet Helps
I am proud of Terry for finding strength in her own creativity and for sharing her story. She shows here how crochet can help us in so many ways including:
- Crochet helps break the negative cycle of rumination that is common in depression.
- Crochet gives you a break so that you can become your calmer, better self.
- Crochet is something that you can do for yourself when you can’t really do anything else.
- Crochet helps you feel productive and useful even when you are struggling with impairments.
- Crochet helps you to find your own center so that you can be a stronger person for those in your life who need you!
Terry’s Story Reminds Me Of …
Terry mentioned that she felt a deep connection with Em’s story from Crochet Saved My Life. Em, owner of the Etsy store nothingbutstring, went through a prolonged period of later-in-life unemployment that led to depression and problems with low self-esteem. Crochet helped to pull her out of that. So I can see how Terry would connect with Em.
Cependant, her story also reminds me of another story in the book: Liza’s. Liza has an undiagnosed condition, possibly MS, that causes her to periodically experience temporary blindness. Crochet has helped her cope with the anxiety and stress she experiences during those times because she knows that if she can crochet blind then she can do other things blind as well. It gives her a sense of competence and calm that battles the anxiety of the situation.
Thanks for sharing your story Terry! If anyone else has a story they would like to share, please feel free to use the contact form on this site to send it to me!
Lectures supplémentaires ...
- Crochet à nouveau après une lésion cérébrale
- Crochet pour solde quotidien comme un survivant de dépression
- Inspiration: La guérison par Crochet Art
- Papillons de crochet d'espoir pour aider à amasser sensibilisation à la SP
- Découvrez comment 6 Les blogueurs de crochet apprises à faire du crochet et comment cela nous aide
