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I was told that I'd never again work in a physical job, after being diagnosed with a chronic illness.

I hail from Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England, the city of makers.

I started crafting from an early age. My mother taught me to knit, sew and crochet when I was a child, and as a grown man I realised that I can use these skills to embellish the crafts which my father taught me when working in wood and metal. I love working in re-claimed timber and beach-combed materials.

For many years I'd been developing skills as a woodworker, learning from various professions along the way, to develop my own range of furniture and become self employed. This was my dream job and I did this for 15 years or so. I'm passionate about creating things out of wood. The texture, the smell, the variety in colour and feel was so evocative to me. But then three years ago I was diagnosed with a chronic illness and was told that I'd never work in a physical job again. I struggled to come to terms with this notion, as well as all the pain and discomfort and associated depression. I was told that acceptance would liberate me from feeling like my life was over, and that I ought to start adapting to living life as a disabled man at the age of 47.

Three years ago I'd identified as disabled, but something didn't sit well with me. I had a feeling, deep within me, that this wasn't it! I had life plans. I wanted to get better. I didn't want to identify as someone who'd given up on living a physical life. So, I started to think about what I could do to ease my pain & discomfort and get back to work.

I started to think about my life. What positive changes could I make to my daily activity?
I took up Yoga, learning the basics from the internet, I changed my diet and started to create healthy daily activities like journaling, stretching, juicing and meditating. It wasn't long before I was able to give up some bad habits in favour of my positive ones. I gave up alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and all the pharmaceutical pain medication. I gave up red meat and all processed sugars, and I also reduced the amount of external input from TV and social media.

I took control of my life and I'm slowly returning to work. This is the start of my new journey.

Nico (May 2019)

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