Jane was born in the late 80's, making her a proud 90's kid. Her mother knew right away that she was preoccupied with fashion when, starting at age two, Jane demanded she dress herself. She admits to faking an eye exam in the first grade in order to wear glasses because she thought they were fashionable. Despite growing up in a small country town in Texas, in the fourth grade her wardrobe began being influenced by top models, musicians, and actors.

With an initial call-back, a love for fashion and an exceptionally tall frame, twelve-year-old Jane traveled to Dallas along with her family to attend a national runway modeling try-out hosted by Model Search America where she had the opportunity to meet renowned top models, present her amateur portfolio to agents, and strut the catwalk in front of many different agencies. She did not receive any call-backs because, well, her elongated form needed more time to bloom.

She continued to experiment with fashion, hair, and cosmetics throughout high school where she survived bullying from her classmates and even teachers for being eclectic, having a skinny build, and standing up for other misfits. She got her first job working as a Sales Associate at a clothing store, took a High School course in Apparel Design while attending a dual-credit College class in Figure Drawing, but began struggling with severe depression. In 2006, Jane persisted on to graduate with a diploma and the "Female Artist of the Year" award.

Despite barely graduating, her above-average SAT scores exempt her from any further testing during college admission. She majored in Fashion Design for one semester, working toward an Associate of Arts. After a disagreement with one of her teachers, Jane decided to take time off from school to focus on her new job at a clothing store called PacSun.

Years later, she started working at a hospital as a Pharmacy Tech Trainee in the Inpatient Pharmacy, where she acquired on-the-job training toward her CPhT certification, but after a head injury from a minor car accident in 2008, she began experiencing symptoms of PTSD. Her anxiety and suicidal thoughts became too much, so she decided to admit herself to a psychiatric hospital where she was then diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and began receiving treatment.

While struggling for many years with mental anguish, additional diagnoses were made, along with two more hospitalizations, and an exhausting trial-and-error battery of medications, some having severe side-effects -- one of which -- made her rapidly gain sixty pounds. It was a stark contrast from always being underweight but it gave her insight into what many others struggle with when being overweight. None of the medications seemed to help, so by her own accord, Jane decided to stop taking them which caused her to experience rapid weight loss, intense mania, and hair loss through a long, discouraging withdrawal process.

After taking much time off to recuperate, Jane's mental health somewhat stabilized so she re-enrolled in college and continued her pursuit of an art degree. She relocated to a larger city where she enrolled in another college and has since then changed majors to music in the interest of her other talents.
 

Today, Jane is doing much better. She has rediscovered her love of fashion and uses it as a muse for her self-expression and appreciation for what she has been given in life.

Recently, after "falling through the cracks" of the academic and health care screening system, Jane was finally correctly diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder, which consolidates and explains her past diagnoses and misdiagnoses as well as her peculiar gifts. She still struggles with severe anxiety and sensory issues but is seeing a therapist and has successfully undergone EMDR psychotherapy. She also believes that all psychological diagnoses have a biological cause, and that with time and proper funding for mental illness research, this will become apparent.

After decades of hating her body, Jane can finally say she is proud of her 5-foot-10 frame as well as her hard work to overcome obstacles that many cannot. She has also decided to abandon her childhood dream of being a model because she believes it would not send the right message to impressionable young women about body image.

However, her hobby has provided a way to share her story of survival with others, advocate mental health awareness and education in order to break down the barriers of social stigma, encourage those who are also struggling to be strong, while giving them tangible ideas for projects they can look forward to creating.

Jane's intended purpose of this blog is to use as many original concepts as possible to teach readers how to be more resourceful and efficient by showing them how to see the potential for good in all things in order to create something practical, economical, and stylish.
 

 

"Start where you are.   Use what you have.   Do what you can."

-Arthur Ashe

 

 

Disclaimer : Jane does not advise or condone anyone on prescription medication to stop taking it. If you are taking medication for a mental illness and are not happy with it or think you may feel better without it, talk to your doctor first. It is dangerous to quit on your own.