Written by Dark Pink Fellow Flower, Vicky Appleman, Watertown, MA
I found Fellow Flowers several years before my consistent running injuries and loved all of their stuff, but had never found a flower that I could identify with. Until Declare It Day 2014, when I found my match. Here’s my story.
When I set my goal for Declare It Day (DID) 2014, I hadn’t been running for a year because of an injury that wouldn’t heal. During that time, I had ample opportunity to think about how I had ended up injured for over a year. I realized that running races unprepared as a result of being too busy to train, and finishing those races injured was becoming the most consistent thing about my running. It also gave me a chance to wallow in the daily stresses that had all too easily taken the place of exercise of in my life, and to throw one heck of a pity party for myself.
For a variety of reasons, I was not in a good place mentally or physically. Much of that was because I had prioritized just about everything else in my life above my own health, happiness and healing. Towards the end of last year, I found the Silver Flower. Its message of hope and healing coming out of a place of brokenness spoke to me. I knew it was time for a change and the only way that could happen is if I made a decision to move forward … for me and no one else.