What Is It . . .
What is it about me that my days are filled with various projects in various places? The truth of the matter is that arthritis prevents me from staying at one task for too long. The “too long” could be several hours or 15 minutes. I know my body and I sure do know the telltale signs when it is time for me to change my posture. At earlier times, I could sit and read for hours, sit at the sewing machine all day, or be bent over the quilt frame for hours on end. No more. Ya, just got to keep moving so the joints within your body are in fairly constant motion . . . within reason.
At some point in time with physical work, my joints had been irritated and the bone had been worn away. The irritation continued and the situation ended as being chronic, meaning it is here to stay. The cartilage protecting some of my joints had been worn away. Though I now have new shoulders and new knees, arthritis loves it when one body position is maintained for an extended period of time and all the nerves, tendons and muscles just settle in for a snuggle and allow for atrophied muscles that can gradually make you a prisoner in your own body. That is not going to happen anytime soon.
In between time, and in the meantime, I have this nine patch that I put into a block that is 6″ x 6″ for the next greatest scrappy quilt. It may be some time before it is completed, but hey, it’s on my schedule. Those darn scraps just keep coming.
So . . . the answer for me is to have a book to read in the living room, crafting going on in the south half of my sewing studio, the sewing machine is in the north portion and in the middle is the cutting table. Having a computer in my sewing room as well as one in our living room allows me to roam at will. The porch with great rocking chairs is a good place to read until I find my head nodding. The water fountain in the Koi pond can put you to sleep. Our acre of mowing and gardens to tend allow for me to have choices within my day. With me moving to multiple corners of my world, multiple tasks are completed, but just not done to completion in one session.
I am not complaining nor bragging. I know that sitting and vegetating could be a prescription for a very small world. The arthritis has made me somewhat being viewed as having attention deficit disorder. The diagnosis could be a whole lot worse. I know I can’t stay in one place for very long so the tendency to be on the lookout for other areas in our home that may need some attention is likely. I can take the “eye rolling” when I see it in friends and family. Being on the move for me is how and why I feel really physically good. I see no reason to single handedly support either the chiropractor of the physical therapist . . . but it is reassuring to know they are there if I have been naughty.