Stories of Worth: Finding Value When You Feel Worthless
The Wilted Sunflower: Sally stared at the rejection email on her phone screen. The fifteenth one this month. Her art portfolio had been turned down again, this time with the particularly stinging comment: "lacks originality and depth." She slumped onto her apartment floor, surrounded by canvases she now saw as failures. "I'm worthless," she whispered to her cat, Oliver, who simply blinked slowly from his perch on the windowsill. Days passed in a blur of self-doubt. Sally stopped painting, stopped answering calls from friends, and barely left her apartment. Then, one morning, she noticed something odd. The small sunflower she'd planted in a coffee can on her fire escape—the one she'd completely forgotten to water—was drooping severely, its bright yellow petals brown at the edges. "Great," she muttered. "I can't even keep a plant alive." But as she reached for the withered flower to throw it away, she paused. Despite its sor...