Today’s podcast brings us the story of JoWynn Johns, age 76.

JoWynn lived a fast-paced life as a management consultant, a mother and grandmother, before CFS struck in 1992. She went through an intense physical, emotional and spiritual journey, spending 17 years in relative seclusion, even isolated from her own family. By 2000 she was spending 14 hours a day lying still in silence to have the strength to operate for the remaining few hours. Along the way, Jowynn discovered a passion for needleart, which became a creative lifeline, and steeped herself in the world’s great spiritual traditions. In 2009, at age 72, she discovered Mickel Therapy, a controversial treatment that she credits with a complete recovery from CFS. Since then, life has been a series of firsts and new beginnings: from driving a car and doing her own grocery shopping again to learning to kayak and running her first 5k. Today, she is living on Vashon Island, off the coast of Seattle, in the loft of a barn, one mile into the forest on a dirt road.

I’ll be updating this post with more photos and resources as soon as I figure out what the heck I’m doing. In the meantime, have a listen to her incredible story, and check out her blog and her beautiful needle art at this link (a few samples below).