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Hello, listener. This is Flowers, and I hope you are having, well, I don't want to say

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a good day. I hope you are treating yourself with kindness. I don't think that enough of

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us do that on a daily basis. I think that we're all wrapped up in so many different

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things that we forget to take care of ourselves. I myself can be guilty of that, or I get so

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worried and caught up about taking care of my own friends that I'll slip up. I won't

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eat or drink water for that day, and that's not kind to myself or to my friends who I

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want to be there for. In these past few days, there's been a lot to come up. Valentine's

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Day came and went. We caused chaos everywhere. But more so, this is a check-in. I want to

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make sure that you're all okay, that you all know that you're loved and cared for, that

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bad things can happen. Bad moments will come, and they will pass. We breathe. We keep breathing,

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and we keep getting a little stronger every day. And I know that's hard to believe. I

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know that at times we have, we have at times perhaps forgotten that bad moments don't make

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a bad life. No. And I think that too many of us demand perfection from ourselves. It's

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not that we're not trying. It's that we think that when we try, it has to be right, it has

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to be perfect. And it doesn't. Just because a relationship didn't work out doesn't mean

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you're never going to find someone else. Just because you trusted the wrong person doesn't

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mean that the right person will gain your trust, or that the right person isn't the

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next one you happen to put your faith in. A lot of times we let the things that other

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people say or do to us define us. And we are so much more than that. You, dear listener,

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are so much more than that. My ex used to do this thing. He, um, he used to tell me

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I was too much. I was too loud. Too happy. Too excited. Too everything. Everything was

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wrong with me. And, listener, I want to tell you that I didn't listen to him. I want to

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tell you that when we ended things I was the same person. I want to tell you that I didn't

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allow him to poison or change me. But that would be a lie, dear listener. I let him into

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my heart and I let him into my mind. I got quiet. I started to believe that everyone

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would feel this way. That everyone I came across would find me the same. So I had to

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change in order to be loved. And that wasn't kind to myself. Because it wasn't a change

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I wanted to make. It was a change that made me sad. I liked getting excited for things.

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I liked being happy. I love being me now more than ever. And even though I do not have a

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romantic partner, even though no one has shown that kind of interest in me in a very long

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time, I still have joy. I still get excited when someone brings up 80s hair bands. When

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someone talks about NSYNC versus Backstreet Boys, the highly, highly debatable debate.

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My heart still flutters when someone talks about Carrie Fisher and Star Wars and what

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those movies mean to me. And when you talk about Greek mythology or Norse mythology or

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folklore in general, I still get this race in my heart. When we talk about ancient runes

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and symbols and Celtic knots and their ties to other, other folklore, I still get excited.

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It took me a while to get back to this place, dear listener. But I'm starting to feel like

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me more and more every day by doing something kind for myself and realizing that that's

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not selfish. That it's something needed in order for me to be the best person for myself

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and my friends and my community. I know that Valentine's Day brings a lot of happiness,

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sadness, so many mixed emotions for so many of us out there. I would have loved to have

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woken up to something from someone. But instead, I spent the day with friends on Twitter, Discord,

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Reddit. I spent the day reminding myself that there were people who want to spend time with

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me. Oh dear listener, please do not dwell on the lack of romance or personal relationships.

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There's so much more to life and to you than those simple things. So, this is flowers reaching

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out to you. Your worth is more than just your job, your partners. Your worth is all the

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stars above. Your worth is more valuable than gold. Because your worth can help others realize

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what they're worth. When you're kind to yourself, you show others that they should do the same.

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That being kind to yourself is never a selfish thing, but rather a way to show others. So,

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if you have stuck through all of this, I hope you do more than one kind thing for yourself.

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I hope you know that you're cared for. And I hope you never let anyone try to take what

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you have worked so hard to build. And I hope you find someone who sees your value and only

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seeks to enrich and build it, never to diminish or take away from it. I am patient, listener.

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Because if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, I know that I have friends and a community.

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Don't worry, dear listener. There's always hope. Always.