May 2019 • happiful • 73bent but not broken. A lot of times it
feels like we’re going to snap, but we
come back up. That’s human nature,
and the fight that comes with just
being alive, and wanting to stay alive.
“Rose Army is a hashtag with the ethos
of: ‘Can we be better? Can we think
differently and do you think differently?
Let’s connect!’ It’s this hashtag used all
over the world, like a handshake.”
Along with the hashtag, the symbol
of the rose growing through the hard
pavement is a powerful one, as well
as the flower’s capacity to defend
itself against attack.
“A rose doesn’t want to hurt people,
but it will if they get closer and grab
it in an incorrect manner,” Rose says.
“The thorns are there and they carry
a consequence. When someone
steals another human being, their
life force, or who they are – that
alters the course of their life. That’s
unforgivable to me, and there should
be a consequence. Today. Hopefully
in this life, and not the next.
“A rose is a delicate beauty,” she says.
“It needs to be protected and I think
that’s like all of us. We’re all roses in
our own life, absolutely.” She stops
and smiles. “No pun intended on my
name, I swear to God.”
Throughout our conversation,
Rose jokes and chats – about travel,
American food (she hates it –
especially orange cheese), and her
creativity. There is so much more to
Rose than what the #MeToo media
reports would suggest, and she is
always keen to point out that she is “a
#MeToo – I am not #MeToo”.
I wonder if Rose ever feels reduced
to a one dimensional version
of herself in the press? This is
something she feels deeply and tells
me she loves to laugh, and that she’s
been told she has a dry humour,
which is more of an English trait. She
seems happy about that. She wants
people to know that she is more than
the impressions that have been given.
“I do battle, I am somebody who
stands up and pushes back,” she says
emphatically. “I’m also somebody
who sits on the couch and watches
Netflix. I’m somebody who likes
laughing with friends. I know how to
make a really good spaghetti.
“We are all many many things,” she
concludes. “And that’s what’s so great
about being human.”
And how is life, now, for Rose?
“I’m in a healthy relationship with
a beautiful human, and that’s helped
me heal a lot. I don’t like leaning on
people for my mental health, but it’s
been nice just to be with kindnessCreativity also plays a major role
in Rose’s life. She’s working on her
album, Planet 9, and hopes to perform
her first live gig at the Edinburgh
Fringe this summer.
Before we part ways, I ask – after
speaking so much about past events- if she could meet future Rose in
10 years time, what does she hope
she’d be doing?
Rose exhales. “I tend not to think
about the future too much because it’s
something that can overwhelm me...
“But I hope she’d be living in a
farmhouse in Tuscany, learning how
to paint. And I hope she would heal
and be healed.” She pauses. “She’d
possibly be in politics, sticking it to
the man. The collective man not
the m a n .”
She smiles. “It’s going to be an
interesting journey.”
I am somebody
who stands up
and pushes
back. I’m also
somebody
who sits on
the couch
and watches
Netflix
because that
was so absent
in my life
for so long.
Hollywood is
not known for
its kindness,
and neither is
the media, nor
Twitter. To be
with somebody
who’s kind and
generous has
helped me heal
in a faster way
than I think I
could have on
my own.”Rose’s book ‘Brave’ is out in paperback
now (HarperCollins, £9.99). Hear more
from Rose in our full interview on
Happiful’s podcast ‘I am. I have’.