Flourishing With Fibro

by Sinikka, Founder of Wander and Rest Life

Most people meet Wander and Rest Life before they meet me — and that’s okay. This community, this mission, this tender corner of the internet has always been bigger than one person. But I’ve learned that to truly serve the people I care about, I need to share more of my own story too. Because Wander and Rest wasn’t built from perfection. It was built from pain, softness, survival, and hope.

My name is Sinikka. I’m the founder of Wander and Rest Life, a full-time mum, and someone living every single day with fibromyalgia — a condition that affects my energy, my mobility, my nervous system, and almost every corner of my life. It’s invisible to most people, but not to me. It lives in my body like a constant reminder that rest is not optional, and that strength can look very different from what the world expects.

But here’s the part I want to shine a light on:

**I am still flourishing.

Not after the pain.
Not without the pain.
But through the pain.**

Flourishing, for me, doesn’t look like endless productivity, perfect routines, or a body that always cooperates. It looks like getting up slowly. Taking my children outside even when my legs feel heavy. Pausing when I need to breathe. Travelling at my own pace. Choosing softness in a world that constantly pushes us to be harder.

It looks like embracing the life I have — not the one I imagined before chronic illness — and finding beauty in the margins.

🌱 Why I Share My Journey

For years, I held my pain quietly. I didn’t want fibromyalgia to define me or overshadow the work I was creating. But the truth is, my lived experience is part of why Wander and Rest Life exists.
It’s the reason I care so deeply about accessible wellness, gentle routines, slow living, and emotional safety. It’s why I speak about rest the way some people speak about ambition. It’s why I understand burnout, overstimulation, chronic exhaustion, and the quiet grief of not having the energy you once had.

By sharing my story — the flare-ups, the small wins, the tired mornings, the soft joys — I hope to create space for others who feel unseen or misunderstood in their chronic pain.

🌸 Flourishing with Fibro Isn’t About Being Pain-Free

It’s about:
• finding rhythms that honour your body
• embracing gentle movement
• resting without guilt
• parenting in the way your energy allows
• travelling slower, but still travelling
• celebrating small moments
• choosing peace over pressure

Flourishing is not about pretending the pain isn’t there. It’s about refusing to let it dim the light in your life.

🌼 A New Chapter for Wander and Rest Life

Fibro + Flourishing isn’t just a phrase — it’s an invitation.
A reminder that people with chronic pain still deserve joy, softness, community, and experiences that make them feel alive.

As Wander and Rest Life grows, I want this message to sit at the heart of everything we do:
You can hurt and still have hope.
You can struggle and still grow.
You can live with chronic pain and still live beautifully.

And I’ll be walking this journey with you — gently, honestly, and at my own pace.

Thank you for being here.
Thank you for seeing me, not just the founder, but the woman behind the mission — a mother, a creative, and someone learning to flourish through pain.

So check out my new YouTube video here, and see how I flourish with Fibro

With love,
Sinikka