How do you un-banana it?

Hi, I'm Maithili.

For more than three years, life went bananas. Spinal injury, setback after setback, hospital visits, and chronic pain. Along the way I lost the corporate career I'd planned and the version of myself that came with it. Slowly, the color drained out of everything.

I kept asking myself one question: how do I un-banana this?

The answer started small. I began adding color back wherever I could: to my space, my days, myself. Little things that made home feel joyful, playful, and grounded again. And I didn't do it alone. My husband sat with me through every appointment and every bad day, never once rushing me to be okay.

Slowly, it worked. By 2026 there was finally something to celebrate, so a few friends and I flew to Mexico City. The tiled stairs in our Airbnb had other plans: one graceless slip, weeks on crutches, and a sunrise hot air balloon ride I only know from my friends' photos.

Teotihuacán at sunrise. Next time.

Somewhere between the ice packs and physical therapy, the two threads met. I wanted socks that belonged in the colorful home I'd been building: soft, cozy, grippy on the sole, and made with ingredients I could feel good about. Socks for kitchen tile, hallway hardwood, and the stretch between bed and bathroom at 2am. So I made them.

That's how un-banana began. With a pair of socks, and a question I'm still asking, of myself and of anyone who'll pull up a chair: when life goes bananas, how do you un-banana it?

Pull up a chair. Feet up, preferably in color. Let's un-banana it.

Maithili