"In my home, only loving words are spoken" - Corina Jane 


This would be the first time I have written something based on depression and where it can start from. I have lived with someone with depression and anxiety for a couple of years. Before they were professionally diagnosed, I had already told this person that they had a mental illness as the signs were visible and I was that concerned, that I encouraged them to seek profession help and what I had suspected, was confirmed.

As I lived with this person, I noticed that they were full of self doubt and no matter how happy they seem, it wouldn't be long until that happy feeling faded. I knew that this DIDN'T JUST happen and that for such a behaviour to progress to a habit, I knew there was some sort of trauma that led to this. There was NO LOVE. In this case, the most important love from a parent whom as a child you should've had, wasn't received. As much as I had seen this person try to reconnect with their parent, it never pulled through. With the feeling of neglect, it contributes as to why a person can spiral down and feel alone which leads to the feeling of 'unwanted' 'unworthy' 'disappointment' 'abandonment' and so on which leads to depression. I did try offer many words of comfort, praise, strength and such but for this person to go through this type of situation, for so long, the emotion this person was feeling could not be helped by anyone's words, all they know is how they feel because they've seen and heard it from the people that were supposed to love them. I am not going to say what this person's parent said but let's just say that it was enough to make someone take their own life which they've already attempted to do just before I walked into their life.

I confronted the parent for their negligence in the way they had left their child. I stood up for what I believed was right and that was for the parent TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

We as people have to be very careful with how we talk and treat each other. Depression doesn't just happen. If someone ONLY hears of their FAILURES and never hears any PRAISES from the people that are meant to LOVE THEM, it will lead them down this road. If someone focuses too much on what someone DIDN'T DO rather than think of the good they HAVE DONE, it will lead them down this path too. If someone doesn't FEEL LOVED enough, it can contribute to heading this way also.


Think before you speak. Your words are sharper than a knife.

- Corina Jane (CJM)

SAY MY NAME, SAY MY NAME

This would be the FIRST POST for 2019! So a big HELLO! From my home to yours. What a year 2018 has been. I accomplished 3 goals out of 4 that I have set last year. I am in the process of making changes this year and I'm getting my son ready for his first day of PRESCHOOL! So apologies if you have been keeping up with my posts and waited so long for the next. I've had to put certain things in my life in order before I could proceed.

I am however, deeply grateful to have seen the readers who have been clicking on my blog and have been reading my content. I am blessed to have seen where you all come from, from one part of the world to the other. There will be alot more content to come. Alot of inspirational stories, some tips, advice and other fun things we can talk about.

This new year, the NUMBER ONE RULE remains the same. Please refrain from writing anything negative anywhere on my blog as I do encourage positive living throughout all my Social Media. There is too much evil in this world, I'd like to focus on bringing more of the sunshine out and spread more love and positivity.

Until then, another THANK YOU for reading. Hence why I have written: "Traveling without moving" because my presence is with you through my words and posts no matter where in the world you may be.

Lots of love,


Corina Jane (CJM)

Staying Inspired.

I know it's been quite a while since the last post. Alot has actually happened and when life happens, well you've got to take a break from Social Media to handle what you got to handle you know?

So a recap,

I went overseas in October and returned to a Halloween Trunk or Treat which I had put together my first DIY project (Refer to recent post) And now I'm at the end of December. So what happened in between?

1. Everyone was still reacting to my wedding on a comment I left on a post.

https://www.facebook.com/iwakeupwithtoday/photos/a.156573174377356/1415391775162150/?type=3&theater

2. I reconnected with a good friend of mine, Rosa. We walk for 2 hours in the morning.

3. Took a Pineapple Selfie in a store. 

4. Went to take my niece on her FIRST temple trip (2nd from the left) 

5. Uplifted a lady, who bought me a cup of coffee as a gift of gratitude (I will elaborate more on this on a seperate post)  

6. Taught these beautiful children about why we have Scriptures. 

7. Spoke at a conference at such short notice. 

8. Board Meeting/Dinner Date

9. Visited the Elderly. Made 2 new friends. Betty and Elsie.

10. Stayed up late/early morning Christmas Eve to bake traditional cookies and Pineapple Custard Pie to deliver to 5 families this Christmas and cook for our annual family Christmas Eve Dinner.

11.  Take care of my husband, who's unwell. 

You're all caught up! There may have been more but I picked out the highlight of the 2 months.
This blog is called STAYING INSPIRED. Throughout the times I've been away from blogging, I actually stayed inspired. I documented it and will soon share those inspirations with you all shortly.
Until the next post, have a good end of year! I will check in, in the NEW YEAR! Thanks for reading.

Lots of love,

- Corina Jane (CJM) 

I'LL BE THE CAPTAIN. DIY PIRATE COSTUME

Hi! So as the previous post stated, I was currently overseas (but I'm back now) and on the day I flew back, was also the day of an event I am a part of. In the weeks prior, not only was I preparing for the house inspection, along with packing, I had to also find a costume to wear when I return. I had already thought of being a "Pirate" but instead of buying the costume, decided to get creative and make one. In my mind I had visualised what I already wanted. I already had a corset to use but had to rethink the idea because my 'corset' (picture 1) was a bit too sexy for this event.

Picture 1

I knew the perfect place to find things of all sorts would be at a thrift store (second hand store) so I went "THRIFT STORE SHOPPING" and this was my final DIY PIRATE COSTUME. 

Instead of the corset, I went with two different pieces put together. I found these two both at the same second hand store. 

  

 

This skirt is actually 2 skirts in 1. I found a skirt layered with black lace and bought it from one second hand store, cut it straight down the middle and then found another skirt (white) at another second hand store and then attached the lace skirt to the white skirt. I didn't have time to sew because I was overseas so I quickly 'safety pinned' it together before the event (Hehe ain't no shame in admitting it) 

I used a hair tie to hitch one side of the skirt up a bit to make it a bit uneven and tied a red off cut material to add a bit of colour there to match the red sash which is also part of the off cut material bundle I bought. I tried to make a bit of the skirt seem dirty to match the pirate look but it still managed to stay white.

To complete the look, I went for fishnet stockings which you can find pretty easily in local stores.  Initially I was after red but couldn't find either red or black in time, so I took whatever colour I could find.

The boots are my own, bought them a while ago from ICE.


You can add as much as you like on top of this costume, like a bandana, eye patch, accessories 

and weapons, pirate hat etc.

Total cost: $22.

Hope you enjoyed and feel inspired! This is the first time I've actually done a DIY costume and I'm pretty pleased with the result, so were many others. Til the next post - have a great week!


- Corina Jane (CJM)

Brisbane to Samoa

I write this post 3,916 km away from where I call home. We had busy couple of weeks and on the last week, we had a house inspection on Friday, a stake dance Friday night, a ward service project Saturday morning and a flight to catch Saturday night. When I say "we" I refer to myself, my son, my husband and my mom. We landed in the island of Samoa on Sunday morning at 4:45am (we were apparently really early since it was meant to land at 5:15am)

This would be the 3rd year I have travelled in a row and each time has been for a purpose. Hence why the caption in the picture says: "Never to Vacate, Always to Educate" When visiting Samoa, I've never really looked at it as a vacation. I've always wanted to find ways to better the living situations of my family and my husband's family there. Being here in Samoa has educated me in a way where it constantly reminds me to be humble. It always has a way of making sure I will always serve others where I can and to know that there are others who have it more worse than I, so I will always be mindful of how I live my life. But that's just me. I always want to find and do things that will educate me, remind me and uplift me based on my own findings, research and materials. Yup, I'm an autodidactic (someone self taught) I don't rely on what others tell me, I want to go experience it for myself, live it and learn from it.

In the time I have spent here, the heat is one thing I did complain about at one stage but then again, I thought: "I have only spent a couple of days in this heat with no air conditioning or ceiling fans but they have to endure this every day, all year round without the luxury I have at home" With this mindset, it has allowed me to look at every thing from a different perspective.

I'm only into Wednesday, we leave on Saturday but I will run down on most things in my next post! 

- Lots of love, hugs and kisses.

Corina Jane

I Just Haven't Met You Yet.

So as I am writing this, I'm listening to "I just haven't met you yet" by Michael Buble.

This song always puts me in a good mood. It has such a good feel to it that just makes you smile and it makes me want to dance at a grocery store haha.

But hello! I have been extremely busy and I'm heading for a busier weekend. But I wanted to write about my latest experiences about meeting new people. So if 'I just haven't met you yet' one day I hope I will.

Lately, I have wriggled my way in to trying to get to know new people. Everyone needs a friend right? How can you make a friend if you don't get to know other people? With the way the world is, what people need is a good friend to help them through.

In this experience, I noticed one thing we all have in common. It's L O V E.  We feel it towards our families, our children, our friends, our pets etc.  There was a time, when I first started in film and television at the Gold Coast and this was the first experience on set and there was this girl who was also there. There was alot of people there but something prompted me to go talk to her. So I did. She was just as nervous as I was. But once she had someone to talk to, her nerves went away and so did mine. We instantly clicked and as we were filming an episode, we made other new friends too. And when we were filming for 6+ hours, having a friend made the day so much fun.

When we are focused on others, you will always want to meet new people and make a new friend. If you have qualities that you know will help and bless the lives of others, wouldn't you want to share it with someone? in hopes it may help them? People need good friends and if you are that 'good friend', don't shy away - the world needs more of YOU. Smile and go the extra mile and find a friend.

So if I get to meet you, don't shy away. If you need a friend, consider me your friend and a selfie together is a must haha! For memories.


- Corina Jane

Are you feeling me?

I'm an outspoken person sometimes. At times I have no filter on how I feeI. If my feelings are on a high, it may build up inside and suddenly it comes out like and I quote from "Mean Girls" - 'word vomit'. Like this one time, I got the hint a guy liked me, the feeling was mutual. It was obvious in our conversations, in his voice and his body language but it was too complicated. Remember me saying that when my feelings are on a high? Yeah I ended up being the first to admit that I had a crush on the person to his face and well, it was something that just found it's way out of my mouth (maybe my brain was thinking it and my mouth just said it haha) In reality, I was never meant to say it because I didn't want to complicate it. On the other side, this was probably one of those 'just keep it quiet and move on' moments but on the upside, atleast I was honest with myself. Once it was out, I was able to acknowledge it, accept it and move on.

Honesty. 
A major thing I learned from this experience was being honest with myself and my feelings. If I had never openly admitted to having a crush on him, I wouldn't have known how to handle it or what to do with it. This provided me with the next step to take. It felt like I didn't have to mask how I felt anymore, it made me think clearer. With this confession, it allowed me to see what I wanted or needed or how much growing I still needed to do and what was really important to me.

There are many different scenarios in life where it requires us to voice our feelings whether purposely or accidentally but one thing that they all should have in common is to be honest with yourself. 


Fear.
This is the biggest road block that we encounter. It's fear. This is sometimes why it can be hard for us to say how we feel. We fear the feeling of rejection or feeling alone where you're the only one feeling a certain type of emotion. We may fear of having no one that could relate to our situation or having no one that understands us. Some may fear the 'unknown' or being in a not so familiar state of emotion and be lost. We can fear disappointing others and also even the most popular one - fear on what others would say. All these reasons may also be a reason on why it may be hard for us to say how we feel. When we constantly live in fear, we are only keeping ourselves from progressing.


Pride. 
This would be another road block right next to "fear" that could make it hard for us to voice our feelings. Sometimes when we're in the wrong and we know that we've hurt someone, our pride may not let us come down to Earth and say how we really feel while being considerate of the other person's feelings. This is something that will harm any relationship/friendship we make and have if we let our ego/pride overrule how to human 101. Learn how to be humble and maintain. 


Circumstances. 
In some cases, depending on the circumstances or situation. Saying how we feel may have to be postponed until a more suitable time, I'm talking about light issues here. But if it is an urgent matter you wish to speak to someone about as it impacts you negatively, I highly suggest you reach out to someone immediately and if you can't - seek professional help. Going back to my confession experience above, the timing wasn't the greatest for us both and we knew it but fast forward to now, I love where I'm at right now.

Note:

If you are upset with someone, tell them in the most considerate way possible.
If you want to declare your love, do it without fear.
If you want to say sorry, then sincerely forgive.
If you want give advice, freely give and live by wisdom.
If you have like someone, tell them without expecting.
If you're not happy, speak up and be honest.
If you care for someone, let them know by words and actions.

Live with no regrets. Whether it works in your favour or not - the main thing is that you were honest to yourself and your feelings. 



- Corina Jane (CJM)