Scenes from our very first embroidery class - see more on Insta stories! Photos by @danielgsilbert
The Gift is in the Wound
I picked up my old childhood hobby of embroidery (taught to me by my grandma Rita), after my doctor suggested I find something to do with my hands as a way to combat the horrible postpartum anxiety I was experiencing following the birth of my second son. You can read about my experience dealing with this anxiety here. It was, for a time, debilitating. Sometimes I still can't believe that this gift - this company, this community, all of you - came out of such a painful experience.
“What we notice in stories,” Winterson answers toward the end of her memoir, “is the nearness of the wound to the gift.” - author Jeanette Winterson in the NYTimes book review.
I love this line by author Jeanette Winterson, who wrote about her harrowing abuse by her adopted mother in Why be happy when you can be normal, (which you should all definitely read), and have used it more times than I can count, and for a variety of circumstances, since first reading it.
I have always wanted to share the joy of embroidery with the world, in the hopes that it may bring as much joy and inspiration to others as it did me. This past Wednesday night, we tried our best at doing just that and hosted our very first embroidery class in our studio here in New York. It was amazing. I'll be posting more photos taken by Daniel (whose wife attended the class!) on Instagram later today if you'd like to see! There wasn't another place I would have rather been to brave the coldest night of the year. Thank you all who came and stay tuned - we will definitely do this again soon! xo Rachelle