Making the Most out of Bad Situation

Ouch! My F*cking Wrist.

Dear Diary, 

On July 7th, I woke up to an excruciating pain in my wrist. I couldn’t brush my teeth, do my hair, or drive a car. I had an unfortunate case of RSI or repetitive strain injury, and all my drawing had to come to an immediate halt! Thankfully, after a month or two of rest and rehabilitation, I’m progressing toward recovery and even picked up a few new hobbies

Here’s what to do when you just can’t f*cking draw anymore.

Distract Thyself

If drawing is your job, you’ll be really stressed and maybe even cry a lot. To ease the pain, I found it best to find things that made me FEEL like I was still working, even if they were really fun. For me, that looked like going to gardens, beaches, art museums, libraries, parks, aquariums, and animal sanctuaries under the guise of finding inspiration for a new book. I also consumed a butt-load of books and movies.

The cool part is that it worked. I’m working on a new idea that I hope will become Book #2 of a two-book deal.

Abandon Thy Wretched Track Pad

I didn’t realize how TERRIBLE the MacBookPro Trackpad is for your wrist. I mistakenly believed I was safe to use my laptop since my injury was drawing-related. Nope! After several days of my wrist feeling pretty good, I tried writing on my computer and had a terrible flair-up. Heed my warnings, dear illustrator.

Become a Thinker

When designing layouts or writing stories, I do my best thinking on the page. “Not-so-fast!” said my wrist injury!

I had to become re-acquainted with just using my ol’ noggin. Going on long walks in solitude is great for this.

Moving Forward

Let’s close with what we can do now that we know we are prone to injury.

• Keep up with those physical therapy exercises!

• Pad your future schedule for plausible injury recovery time.

• Listen to your body’s cues. That hot, achy feeling? Let’s stop for today.

Speaking of which, I gotta bounce. My wrist is trying to tell me something.

Ciao!

Katie