How this 44 year-old vision-impaired floral artisan overcame depression and found hope

While many see struggle as a normal part of life, the challenges Faith had to overcome in order to regain confidence in herself, were far from average. From birth, Faith was partially deaf and diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative disorder of the eye that causes tunnel vision and difficulty in differentiating colours. She strived to find employment, but faced constant rejection that greatly disheartened her. Her mental health suffered, as the reality of physical disabilities, divorce, and unemployment began to set in. Faith fell into depression, and even considered taking her own life.

After much struggle and pain, things turned for the better when Faith came to work at BloomBack, a social enterprise started by her sister Hazel. Faith regained a sense of dignity through her work as a floral artisan, and was able to find a renewed sense of purpose and acceptance of herself. Because of this, Faith now looks back on her life and remembers 3 valuable lessons she’s learned on her journey to self-love:

1. Embrace Your Uniqueness

“I have since gained happiness and hope through meeting people who fully accept me and my commitment towards my work, which made a positive impact on my mental health.”

It took a long time before Faith could view her disabilities in a positive light. Her depression had led her to see herself as unworthy and unloved. But as she worked more with flowers, she realized her imperfections and shortcomings were a part of what made her unique, and that there would always be people who would wholly accept her for who she was. Faith’s strength to better herself and come to the understanding that she is precious, whole, and complete, inspired this Bluetooth Speaker dome fittingly named ‘Embrace Your Uniqueness’. 

2. Guard your heart to find Happiness

“Do something today that your future self will thank you for”

In the past, Faith would get affected by negative influences around her. It was hard not to let herself get hurt. But one day she came across an inspirational quote. The quote encouraged her to cut out toxic influences, people, and situations in her life. She set up healthy boundaries and started speaking kind words to herself to ensure that her heart would be kept safe from the negativity of the world. These happiness bottles were exclusively designed to remind all of us to find pleasure in little things and choose joy.

3. Give Yourself Time…and Grace

“Work on being in love with yourself who have been through so much but are still standing tall”

Due to impaired vision and hearing, Faith often finds it slow and painful to complete tasks. This would then cause her to grow impatient and demoralized. There were countless times when she just felt like giving up. Nevertheless, through these hard times, she learned that transformation was a work-in-progress. It takes time, and what she needed to focus on was doing her best and learning to trust the journey. ‘Beauty and Grace’ dome featured here, embodies Faith’s constant strive to grow in Grace.