The Internet is great for a lot of things, but one of them is the fact that when I wanted to try crafting again, I was able to find more accessible options. ⁣ ⁣ Growing up and through college, I loved crafting. I was on crutches a lot in high school, and I would paint them. I tried all sorts of crafting, and I was able to do it a lot longer than I was playing instruments. But my RA - or rather my difficulty in properly pacing - caught up eventually, and when I had my physical breakdown and moved back to New England, I stopped. ⁣ ⁣ I wanted to get back into crafting, and I've always wanted to do embroidery, so when the Internet introduced me to punch needling, I was sold. Honestly, my biggest motivator for not overdoing it on my new hobby is the fact that I enjoy it so much and I would be upset if I overdid it and had to stop. ⁣ ⁣ It still hurts that playing instruments - any of the ones I played for years - hurts me. I'm determined that the only reason I will stop a hobby is if I get bored of it, and not that RA or any of my other illnesses gets in the way. ⁣ ⁣ ◾⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣ ⁣I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate. Follow me for more content for chronic illness patients and their loved ones!⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣ ◾⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ID: An in-progress embroidery project on a blue bed next to open container of yarn and embroidery floss. ⁣ ⁣ AlmostGreatHealth AlmostGreatLife rheumatoidarthritis RA rheum rheumatoiddisease arthritis curearthritis chronicillness chronicpain spoonielife autoimmune autoimmunedisease autoimmunearthritis arthritiswarrior arthritisawareness rheumatoidarthritiswarrior