Short answer?

Because addiction is shit.

I've spent years trying to find a more polite way to say it, a prettier way to package it, a softer way to explain it.

I can't.

Addiction is shit.

The fear is shit.

The obsession is shit.

The guilt is shit.

The shame is shit.

The lying is shit.

The feeling of knowing exactly what you should do and being unable to do it, is shit.

So if the word makes people uncomfortable, I understand. It's supposed to.

But the name Poop2Poppies™ didn't come from a marketing meeting. It came from a moment.

One day I was cleaning up after one of my cats when I noticed something that stopped me in my tracks.

There was a piece of poop... growing flowers.

I don't know about you, but I don't see that every day.

I remember staring at it and thinking... "Well would you look at that. Even shit can grow flowers."

And that was it.

That was the seed.

Poop2Poppies™ was born.

The idea behind the brand has never been that life is easy.

The idea is that life is messy.

Painful.

Unfair.

Complicated.

Sometimes life hands you things you never asked for.

Sometimes you create your own mess.

I've certainly created plenty of mine.

But regardless of how the shit arrived in your life, you always have a choice.

You can sit in it.

Or you can grow from it.

That's what a poppy represents to me.

Growth.

Healing.

Learning.

Resilience.

Taking the worst parts of your story and turning them into something meaningful.

So am I sorry for using the word poop?

No.

Ten years ago I apologised for everything.

I apologised when I hadn't done anything wrong.

I apologised for taking up space.

I apologised for existing.

"Sorry" was basically my "um".

Today, if I make a mistake, I own it.

I apologise.

I try to do better.

But I don't apologise for things I'm not sorry for.

And I'm not sorry for this.

Because life's "shit" grows flowers.

Because some of the strongest, kindest, wisest people I've ever met have grown through things that nearly broke them.

Because recovery isn't about pretending the shit never happened.

It's about learning how to grow something beautiful from it.

You don't have to love the name.

You don't even have to agree with it.

If you have thoughts, opinions, or suggestions, I'm always happy to hear them.

Listening to other people is one of the ways I continue to grow.

But the name is staying.

In fact, the image featured in this Bloom Note is the very first logo I ever created for Poop2Poppies™.

If you don't like the word "poop", you're lucky I compromised! The original idea wasn't a flower growing from a logo - it was a flower growing out of a literal piece of poop. Trust me, things could have been much worse!

But every part of this brand exists because I have personally poured my heart and soul into creating it. Every product has a purpose. Every colour has a meaning.

And that's what Poop2Poppies™ is all about.

Learning. Growing. Communicating to one another with hope, colour, imagination, craziness and sometimes...

There is even a little bit of joy. Damn it!

Because we deserve it.

🧡aj