My mother had taught me to sew as a kid, and I’d taught myself pattern-making and other custom sewing skills. I had also poured myself into cooking and am a tough food critic because a lot of times—I can make it better. As I began the journey to heal my mind, I realized I’d always been infatuated with DIY. At the time I’d never tried, because of deeply held beliefs that were, once the fears and fluff was stripped away: lies. I’d design and then I’d have the husband do it, because gender roles. But a tough part of doing it that way was having to pitch every change, and convince him it would be worth it, for both his time, the money, and the resale value of our 1100sqft house. One day I got tired of pitching, and I cut the drywall out to run new electrical for sconces by the fireplace. By the time husband got home from work I had the wires run, light boxes attached, and a hole drilled into the attic ready for wire to be fished up to connect to power. Over the next few weeks I tried out drywall, installed shiplap, and installed the sconces. No sooner had that project been done then I turned my sights on the only bathroom’s shower surround.