Sometimes you just have to take the leap. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and throw caution to the wind. Right?? Whew.
I’ve had this nagging idea for a website/blog in the back of my head for quite some time. I ignored it and told myself a million excuses why it was just, I don’t know…. dumb. The number one reason? I was too busy, too many responsibilities, blah, blah, blah.
Let’s rewind to about 2 years ago. I’ve spent my entire life overcompensating for past trauma. I’m a Type A, overly organized person. Add in sometimes crippling anxiety and an unhealthy amount of dark humor, you get me. Sure, it’s funny. There’s a million memes, a million jokes, a million others just like me. However you bundle this in with being a working mom of three (one special needs and two bonus kiddos), a wife and a dogmom – you get a walking neurotic mess. I found myself burnt out. I literally could not sit down. My brain told me that there was too much to do, that I needed to keep going. After talking to my doctor and seeing a therapist, I started taking steps to prioritize myself. This definitely wasn’t easy. I failed miserably many, many times but like everything, I found what would become my joy while scrolling Amazon.
Being a fan of Halloween decor, I discovered a printed cross stitch canvas of a Halloween scene that was super cheap and looked like fun. Amazon Prime had it at my door the next day and I started stitching it. The back was an absolute train-wreck. I was using what had to have been 3 ft of thread and cussing out every tangle and knot along the way BUT I sat down and I did it. I wasn’t worried about what was going on around me, I wasn’t go go go – I was purely content to sit there with my cheap thread and kitchen shears making something pretty.
Speeding along to now. I’ve come so far. I’m in oodles of stitching Facebook groups, following fun people on Instagram, bookmarking my favorite shops, trolling Etsy stores while burning the midnight oil, collecting treasures of supplies and patterns. Basically I’ve been building my happy.
I’m not an expert. I’m not perfect. I’m still learning and I’m still stitching at my own pace. I wanted to share it with you. Maybe this will reach a few or many, either way I hope that my experience will help others stitch happy. Mental health matters. Finding outlets to help your mental health matters.
So YOU TOO MORE was created. A silly saying, one that my autistic son who was regaining his lost speech gave me. This was his reply to an “I love you”, telling me “Love you too more” and that’s that.
So again, welcome and thank you for stumbling across my little corner of the interwebs. I’m really glad you’re here.