The Bloom Movement Founder & CEO Monique Wardley - A random act of kindness at Northern Beaches Hospital NSW.
It was my love of blooms & a random act of kindness by myself, along with the kind heart of a stranger that would ignite The Bloom Movement, see the return of my unicorn and ultimately save my life.
5 years ago I went though an unimaginable pain, one that you wouldn't expect from the outside looking in, that someone like me would go through. Called a rainbow unicorn by friends and family because of my childlike, happy & optimistic nature, I have the most supportive, caring, loving fiancé Jarrad, lovely friends & family, 2 crazy but beyond loyal & loving border collies Willow & Rose, we don’t have millions but we do ok…. this is not the picture of someone who you would imagine to feel such sadness & at her lowest point not want to be on this beautiful earth anymore, but Mental Health doesn’t discriminate and I was a part of the 1 in 5 (20%) that go through a similar journey each year in Australia.
Story Continued below…
On my lowest day, I somehow mustered the courage to go to my favourite place on earth the flower market (florist by trade), so up at 3:30am I had a shower, put clothes on & already felt more like myself, I came home from the market with dusty pink fragrant roses, made myself a tea & sat with the sunrise as I made 9 bouquets with notes of wellness attached, I had the thought of gifting the bouquets to strangers to brighten their day & perhaps even my own. After not seeing friends or family for about 4 months & most days spent in bed the thought of walking up to a stranger was beyond daunting, but I DID IT!!!!
I walked up to the first lady & nervously said, “these are for you!” she looked at me with such shock & fumbled while saying “Gosh, they’re so lovely, thank you, do you mind if I ask why you’re doing this?” a tear rolled down my cheek as I said “I just haven’t been feeling too good lately & I thought these might make you smile & me too!” the lady looked at me with tears now in her eyes too as I believe she could sense my struggle & with a caring tilt of her head, she smiled, gave me a BIG hug and said “I’m here for you if you need someone!”
“Photos from the day that these little bouquets & a kind stranger saved my life, the beginning of The Bloom Movement!” - Monique Wardley TBM CEO
A feeling of immense joy came over me, (I’m so teary writing this!) something I hadn’t felt in almost a year even though I had such support from Jarrad & everything else, this hit differently! I then ran (no joke) around the park, with the BIGGEST smile on my face delivering the rest of the bouquets to the other ladies who I could see playing with their children, ok now buckle up for some WooWoo magic haha, that morning I had created 9 bouquets, no idea why I just divided the roses evenly into cute little posies and I had created 9 by the time I was done. Would you believe it after gifting the 1st bouquet there were only 8 other ladies in the park 8! So here I stand holding 9 bouquets & here stand 9 ladies playing with their children in the park, it was honestly just bizarre & meant to be if you believe in that (I do!). Can you imagine, I already felt awkward enough, say there were 10 ladies… then I would have to walk past someone like, “Oh you don’t get one” & I would have felt horrible or if there were only 8 ladies I would have awkwardly had to find a singular lady somewhere in the street, anywayyyyyy…….
I returned home and jumped on to the couch in an almost hysterical fit of laughter at what I had just done and the crazy amount of happiness I felt! The next week I gifted 50 bouquets and the next week I pushed myself to gift 100! My happiness grew week by week (this was becoming expensive therapy haha) until I had the idea of partnering with The Sydney Flower Market to rescue the growers beautiful tarnished blooms that would normally end up in landfill (these would still last up to 1 week but just need bruised petals etc removed) I would then run Bloom Movement workshops around Australia where I could share the experience that saved my life with the public, the guests would create recycled bouquets while taking a moment for their own Mental Health & to spread the joy further, the bouquets would be gifted to hospitals, nursing homes, strangers in a park, ANYONE, ANYWHERE (we all deserve kindness)!
After gifting 100 bouquets, the next weekend I ran my very 1st Bloom Movement workshop with 30 amazing guests attending, which also featured on ch 9. After the feature my inbox was flooded with emails from people all around Australia sharing their stories of struggle with me & how in being vulnerable & sharing my story on national TV, it gave them the courage to also talk about their story. At this point my heart was about to burst with happiness and I knew this was something I would pursue for the rest of my life.
My life now is dedicated to The Bloom Movement & supporting the Bloomies (YOU) that make this dream possible. We are a profit for purpose company, meaning that EVERY initiative created by TBM is conceived with our first thought being “ How can we best support the Mental Health & wellness of our community?”. This is at the heart of ideation, our why, & our reason for existing. My mission will always be to uplift & support all different demographic groups to see out their one & only precious life in happiness, with a focus on prevention. Our loved ones should always return home at the end of the day & it is my mission to ensure that they do.
With my crazy, creative brain I’m sure TBM will take many different forms as the years progress but my WHY will always remain the same.
TBM may have begun with my story but it is now about US (Bloomies) coming together collectively as one to make sure this dream becomes a reality! I CAN’T do it on my own, as 1 person I am strong but together we are unstoppable! Our 6,000 + random acts of kindness is testament to our power when we work together!
From the bottom of my heart THANK YOU for being such an integral part of this journey & story, I couldn’t do it without you, I wouldn’t be here without you!
Through hardship beauty can bloom in the most unexpected of ways, (corny I know but also true!) so if you are reading this & in a hard place please hold on, because on the other side of your struggle is the best version of you just waiting to bloom & maybe even a rainbow unicorn you never even knew existed.
S T A Y . . . . .