Welcome to this weeks Flow Feature! We hope you’ve all had yet another wonderful week, and thank you for joining us again to read this week’s Flow Feature on Scottie M. from France!

Although Scottie only lived in France for just over three years, he always considers it his home. After his father lost his job in 2008 his family could no longer afford to live in their home. Both of his parents tried
to find work but were unsuccessful. Eventually they were asked to leave their home, but were fortunate enough to be offered a place to live by a close family friend in France. His parents jumped at the chance. Though they were usually too stubborn to accept help, it was preferable to living in the street back home, where all their friends could see how far they had fallen. 

Scottie fell in love with the property from the minute he got there. His room in the new house was small, but overlooked an incredible landscape. His parents had decided to home school Scottie so help save up whatever money they earned during their stay. He spent hours every day exploring, neglecting as much of his homework as possible.  The only thing that Scottie missed was his friends. He rarely saw any other teenagers his age in this town and he still hadn’t learned the language very well.

Scottie resorted to finding most of his friends on the internet through social networking sites (still neglecting his homework). He met so many amazing people online, chatting away for hours about everything from their life stories to favourite books, films and bands. He was given a long list of bands that he was told he HAD to listen to, including the strangely named ‘Florence + The Machine’. He ordered their album online and waited. He resisted looking them up on YouTube, knowing that if they were as good as he had been told, it would be worth the wait.

When it finally arrived he was almost wished he hadn’t waited. He fell in love with ‘Dog Days Are Over’ from the first line. He let the drums and Florence’s beautiful vocals sweep him off his feet, quite literally, as he spun, leapt and danced around his room letting go of all inhibitions. He had never danced like he did in that moment, and had never felt anything quite like the wave of pure emotions running through his veins. Florence + The Machine was like his drug, he could never, ever get enough of them. He spent every minute dancing in his room, through the property, or even in the middle of town when they went to get the groceries!

Florence + The Machine made him feel like there was something worthwhile inside of him. After what his parents had been through, Scottie felt like there was nothing to look forward to in life. He knew his parents might not be able to afford to send him to university and he felt he would probably end up as a ‘drop-kick’ getting favours everywhere he went. Now that he has discovered Florence + The Machine he knows that there is more, that there will always, always be more to life. The music makes him feel like there is this immense wealth of talent hidden inside him. He doesn’t know what it does yet, only that he has a deep need to express himself and let it run free. Even though they have left France and moved back to their old city, he has brought something special back from that place that he will never part with. 


Thank you Scottie for sharing your beautiful story! We can’t wait to see just how you manage to put that incredible inspiration to use!



We hope you all enjoyed this weeks Flow Feature! If you can
  please help us spread the word to any and all Flows who would like to share
  their stories with us! Until next
week..


Inspiring Flows Xxx


 

Welcome to this weeks Flow Feature! We hope that those of you who have been lucky enough to see The Great Gatsby have enjoyed it so far! Don’t forget to check out the Flows Book Club discussion to see what Flows thought of the wonderful book by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Before you do that however, have a read of this week’s Flow Feature on Portia Maree from George, South Africa! 

Portia had always been a fan of Florence + The Machine, ever since a friend gave her a copy of ‘Lungs’. Though she saw its beauty at the time, it never truly reached her until the day that she needed it. 

In December 2011, Portia became seriously ill with tonsillitis which then turned into a viral infection.  For weeks she was unable to walk or even move. Finally, although she still looked sick, Portia got better. Towards the end of January 2012 Portia started to notice weird red dots on her skin. At first she ignored it, but then it started to get worse. When Portia spoke to her doctor about the dots he became worried and asked whether she bruised easily, which before now she never did. 

The doctor came to the conclusion that her blood was no longer clotting, and the red spots were the result of blood that was seeping from her blood vessels. Portia was monitored for the weekend after which it got better. Thankfully she didn’t need a blood transfusion, and all seemed to be well…

Unfortunately for Portia, the blood tests came back revealing an irregularity. Portia went for further tests and it was discovered that she had Lupus, an auto-immune disease that causes the immune system to attack healthy cells. She was immediately put on medication. It wasn’t until a month or two later that it finally hit Portia, that this was not something that would get better. It was something that she would always have, and she would need to be constantly monitored and kept in check. Everything that Portia does needs to be okayed by her doctor before commencement. Thankfully the medication worked with little side effects or further complications. 

Learning to live with Lupus was extremely overwhelming, and it became too much for Portia to cope with. Portia stopped feeling like herself and became extremely depressed. Portia works as a graphic designer at the local newspaper, and even her work began to suffer from the stress. Portia was no longer in the mood to do anything. She couldn’t so anything creative, and she was always in a terrible mod. Portia stopped going out, she just felt so low. 
 
One day, Portia was sitting at her computer trying to make something creative. She wasn’t in the mood and struggled to come up with anything creative. She decided to open up her media player, and browsed through the artists. The player skipped to Florence + The Machine, and all of a sudden something stirred in Portia and she clicked off the shuffle option. ‘Lungs’ finished and ‘Ceremonials’began. It was the best thing that ever happened to Portia. ‘Ceremonials’ just made everything come alive. 

Portia started listening to ‘Ceremonials’ at work, and suddenly the look of her ads improved. She even started painting too. Portia just felt so inspired. ‘Shake It Out’ is the one song that was able to break Portia out of every mood, taking over and making her feel lighter. ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’ made her feel braver than ever before. Florence just inspired Portia to be all that she can be and more. Now, every day Portia jst keeps following the heartlines on her hand…

Today Portia is a lot better. Portia now feels better about the Lupus, and she is now following her dreams. Portia is now doing photography and just finished her second short film. Everything seems better and easier now that she has Florence in her headphones. 

Thank you Portia for sharing your inspiring story! We’re so glad that Florence + The Machine has been able to reach you and give you the courage and inspiration to continue fighting your battles and following your dreams! We wish you all the best with your health and creative outlets!

We hope you all enjoyed this week’s Flow Feature! Again, we are keen to get some more stories out of our wonderful fanbase to keep running our features every week, so please spread the word! Until next week…

Inspiring Flows Xxx

Welcome to this weeks Flow Feature! Apologies for the delay this week, due to Mother’s Day celebrations. We hope that those of you who celebrate the day at this time of year had a wonderful time and spoiled your mothers rotten! This weeks Flow Feature is on Selene from the UK.

Selene didn’t discover Florence + The Machine until six months ago, but fell in love with Florence Welch long before. It was just after she first created a Tumblr account that Selene first saw Florence Welch. As she gradually followed a number of music blogs a beautiful red haired woman began to show her face on a regular basis. Selene had no idea who she was, but loved everything about her. Her clothes and fashion sense were incredible. Gradually Selene began to research the life of Florence Welch, and was completely in awe of this incredible woman. Selene took the quotes and attitude towards life that Florence shared with her fans as her inspiration in every aspect of her life. 

Just when Selene thought it couldn’t get any better, she finally listened to the music. As if she hadn’t loved Florence Welch enough already, the two albums blew her away in every way possible. Selene has now well and truly buried herself in the world of Florence + The Machine and the Flows, and she couldn’t be happier. Selene is now pursuing a future in fashion design. She is so grateful to Florence for giving her the inspiration she needed in her life. Thanks to this inspiration.

Thank you Selene for sharing your story! We hope you are able to continue with your future in fashion design with the inspiration from the lovely Florence Welch!

We hope you enjoyed this weeks Flow Feature! We’re desperately seeking some more Flow to share their incredible stories, please feel free to send us yours and spread the word! Until next week…

Inspiring Flows Xxx



 

Welcome to this weeks Flow Feature! If you can pry yourselves away from the stunning photos of Florence Welch attending the premiere for The Great Gatsby you can enjoy this weeks Feature on Janessa!

When Janessa graduated from high school she could barely contain her excitement. She was finally free from high school and looking at a bright future at university. She had her bags packed and ready weeks before she was due to arrive. When she finally started classes she didn’t even blink at the loads of assessment they handed over, she was just looking forward to being able to study what she was interested in, finally. 

What Janessa didn’t count on was what would happen to her friendships once she left for university. In school Janessa had been part of a fairly large group of friends. They all loved each other dearly, and spent all their free time together. Initially, they had all promised to stay in touch, to Skype every night, and make regular trips up to see her. As the semester went on the Skype meetings became fewer and the phone calls shorter. Before she realised Janessa was going weeks without any contact with her friends. To make  matters worse she was finding it impossible to make new friends outside her course. As the semester continued Janessa became more and more cut off from everyone, including her family. While her course kept her busy most of the day, the lonely nights became unbearable. Janessa felt isolated, left behind and forgotten by her friend. Even though she had only been chasing her dreams, Janessa began to wonder if she had done the right thing by leaving. She considered leaving the course and running back home to the safety of her family and friends.

Janessa discovered Florence + The Machine at just the right time in her life. At the beginning of every class her professor would play music, and on the same morning that Janessa had started to pack her bags the song of the day was ‘Heartlines’’ by Florence + The Machine. Janessa sat in silence, ignoring her classmates while the song played. She couldn’t believe how beautiful the song was, and how relevant it was to her in that moment. She knew that this had to be some kind of sign. After the song was finished Janessa left
the room, abandoning her class. She sat in the courtyard for hours, remembering the lyrics that she had heard, trying to let them convince her to stay. 

By the afternoon she had made her decision. She drove home and opened her laptop, downloaded Ceremonials and hit play as she began to unpack her bags. She left Heartlines on repeat for hours as she settled back into her room. She was not going to let anyone ruin her chance to achieve her dreams. Janessa knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but she was going to follow her heartlines until she found her happiness, and not let anything stand in her way. 

Thank you Janessa for sharing your inspiring story! We are so glad that you are able to continue following your dreams thanks to Florence + The Machine. Remember, you will always find a friend in Flows. 

We hope you all enjoyed this weeks Flow Feature! Have a fantastic week and remember to follow your own heartlines! Until next week…

Inspiring Flows Xxx