From Quiet Struggles to Bold Truths – Exclusive Interview with Julia Mae Corotan

Brainz Magazine
2 days ago
10 min read

Julia Mae Corotan is a mental health and personal development advocate, as well as a passionate storyteller. Her mission is to connect people through stories. With a decade of experience in leadership and personal development and after experiencing burnout in university and work, Julia started her blog, Amica Mea, as a way to connect with people struggling with burnout and feeling lost about their life's path similar to her own experiences and to give people a place to find themselves again, with the success of Amica Mea the Vlog and Podcast Becoming You was developed. Her passion for helping people stemmed from her background of being born and raised in Papua New Guinea, where she was nurtured in a community of diverse cultures.

Julia Mae Corotan, Motivational Speaker and Content Creator

Introduce yourself! Tell us and your readers about you, your life, and how you ended up where you are today.

Where do I even begin? I am a Filipino born and raised on the South Pacific Island of Papua New Guinea. However, right after High School, I did University in Manila, Philippines. This opened my eyes to a whole new perspective of the world compared to my small-town upbringing in Papua New Guinea. Due to my upbringing and the origins of my family, I have developed a unique perspective on life and various cultures. This also inspired my love for travel and experiencing new cultures. During my university days, I was fortunate enough to work for AIESEC, a non-governmental organization. Through them, I discovered a passion for leadership and personal development. However, during my days in AIESEC, I experienced some of my lowest days. I was struggling emotionally and mentally. My mental health took a turn, but it was also during my time in the organization that I discovered a passion for writing. So, I started writing letters as an outlet for my struggles. A couple of months after my term as National Director for Digital Marketing in AIESEC Malawi ended, I wanted to continue helping people grow. But more focused on just personal development. That's when I decided to share my story, which inspired the start of my blog Amica Mea and then Becoming You. And all this has brought us to the present day. I would love to continue encouraging and motivating people through my blogs. To let them know that you are not alone in this journey.

After hearing your story earlier. What is your life motto?

When I was younger, I always said, "You only live once." I had lived by that life motto throughout my university days. But today, after everything I've experienced in the past decade. I live by the saying. "It is better to try than to ask the question What if?" Personally, I don't like the question of what if. I don't want to live in a time or place where I have to ask myself "What if constantly?", "What if I chose that path?". "What if I said yes to that opportunity?" or "What if I had tried it, would I be here today?" All the what-ifs would later make me question my life decisions. I prefer living without those what-ifs. I also wanted to live by the decisions I had made and go out there and discover if I liked the new things I was trying. Because without those decisions, I wouldn't be where I am today. So my life motto is "It is better to try than to ask the question What if?"

You said your life inspired your blog. Is there a specific event that inspired your blog/work?

My personal life. My struggles over the last decade, especially during my 20s, and the lessons and failures I experienced throughout that time, have inspired my work. I'm unable to pinpoint an exact time. Because my whole 20s and that whole decade are where I draw inspiration from. I think that the best stories are written from experiences. And there wasn't a specific time in my 20s that I drew inspiration from, since all those lessons and experiences were varying degrees. My blog draws inspiration from my life journey and experiences, especially in the last decade.

You have a very unique blog name, Amica Mea. Is there a special meaning behind it? What inspired you to choose the name?

Ever since I was a kid, I have always been fascinated with languages. I may have dreamed of learning all the languages in the world when I was young. But there was one language that intrigued me. I know it is a dead language today, but Latin always fascinated me. This stems from my passion for ancient history. I may be a history nerd. And when I first started my blog, it didn't feel right to use my name, as I wanted people to connect with the blog and its content. I wanted the letters I shared through my blog to be something everyone or anyone who comes across them can connect with. So, I searched for a name that had a special meaning to me.

Since my original letters were addressed to a future significant other as "Dear my love." I decided to pick a name that was close to that, since the letters are the foundation of my blog. That was when I rediscovered my love for Latin and searched for a closer translation to "My love," which led me to Amica Mea, roughly translating to "My companion or My Beloved."

You mentioned briefly that your blog started as letters to your future significant other. Why letters to a significant other and not letters to yourself? Was there inspiration behind that?

It started when I was about 15 years old. There was a movie I had watched, "Letters to Juliet." It was a story about a girl who travels to Italy and helps a volunteer group respond to letters addressed to Juliet from the famous Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet. It was letters about their struggles and love. It was like an outlet for the characters and those writing to express their emotions. And from then on, I fell in love with the movie and the idea of letters. It sounds really old school with letter writing. Still, there is just something very intimate about the idea of writing letters. It's like a special gift that can never be duplicated. So from there, I was always drawn to letter writing. When I was looking for an outlet, I started writing in my notes app on my phone, and one day, I remembered writing a letter to my future self back in high school. I came across that letter before I flew back to Papua New Guinea in 2020. That was when I decided to pull out a pen and paper again and start writing letters, but this time not to my future self, to someone else. Kind of like the characters in "Letters to Juliet"

You said your blog started as your personal story of letters to your future significant other. Why did you decide to finally share them online?

When I was going through one of the darkest times of my life, I felt alone, even though I wasn't, because I had a group of people beside me. But even being surrounded by people who loved and cared for me deeply still made me feel lonely. And when life started looking bright again, I decided to share my story because I didn't want anyone who might be going through something similar, or who might be struggling, feeling lost or stuck, to feel what I felt. The feeling of loneliness, and the feeling of no one understanding the war that was happening in my head that only I could see, hear, and feel. I wanted those who came across my content to know they are not alone. That someone, even from a distance, is right there beside them. Even if it only reaches one person or impacts a small group, that is all that matters. I wanted them to have the safe space that I once craved and looked for. So that's why I decided to share my story online.

Amica Mea is your main blog and the work behind your success. Why did you start Becoming You? Was there a story to branching out from Amica Mea?

Actually, Becoming You is a continuation of Amica Mea. A part of it. It's like a sequel to the original. Amica Mea was a space that people could come to and know they weren't alone, and we would walk through all these struggles together. Becoming You became that place where, once all the struggles are put behind us, it is a place to start rebuilding oneself. A place where you can become the person you want to be. A place to start searching for yourself. A place to become you. And to have that community walk beside you during this journey of self-discovery and personal development. Not a place to forget yourself and what you went through, but a place to use your experiences to build a better version of yourself. To finally "Become You," the person you once thought was only a dream, but has become a reality.

You mentioned that you had gone through your personal struggles emotionally and mentally, which later shaped your work and inspired Amica Mea. When did you realize you weren't okay? Was there a specific event?

I never realized it till a few years ago. When I was just building Amica Mea, this event made me question many things in life. I realized I wasn't doing okay and was only hiding behind a person that many people expected of me. It was back in 2015 that I was in my second year of university. My mom was about to go through a major surgery on the Brain. They had found a tumor that was the cause of her many headaches, and the doctors had told us in a span of a few days that she needed surgery right away. They were scheduled to return to Papua New Guinea after Christmas in the Philippines. They had to postpone the travel back because we had to schedule Mom's surgery as soon as possible. The doctors told us she was a walking "time bomb," basically. If she got on a plane, the cabin pressure might be too much for her, so surgery right away was a must. Her surgery had taken place five days before my 20th birthday. And I remember starting that decade in her hospital room. She had just come out of a coma for a couple of days. Honestly, at that moment, I didn't know if life would ever return to normal or if it would change completely. My brothers were only 13 and 5, and things started becoming overwhelming, and everything was happening too quickly. It was during this time, too, that I realized I wasn't happy with my major anymore. With my mom's surgery and being burnt out in school, I didn't know what to do. Responsibilities started pouring in, and it just took a lot from me. Still, I was too afraid to talk or show any weakness when I was supposed to appear as if I had everything together. So that was the start of it all. It took me years to talk about it, but that was the story that made me start questioning many things. It was then that I realized it was okay to show your weaknesses and to admit you are not okay either.

You seemed to have been a very independent child growing up. What would you say to her if you were given a chance to talk to your younger self? What advice would you give her?

First and foremost, I would like to give her a big hug. Because I know the journey she is about to embark on, I want to tell her that I am proud of her, that she is strong, brave, and resilient, more than she knows. As the eldest of three siblings, I've always felt like I've held a lot of responsibilities, especially with all the things that've happened around me. Like moving away to a different country for university at 18, to my mom's surgery, and then to thinking if I was ever going to be okay. Life, especially over the last decade, has been a roller coaster. So, I would love to tell my younger self that I am proud of her and that she is braver than she ever thinks.

Then I would say to her that the advice I would give her is not to be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, speak up, and try new things.

And most importantly, don't let others' words affect you. And if life gets hard, just keep going and keep chasing her dreams, no matter what life may throw her way, because life is full of surprises.

What would be your advice to anyone who feels stuck, lost, unsure, or struggling with life or what to do next, but still has some hope?

If you still have a little hope in you. Hold on to that. When I felt lost, unsure, and stuck in life, all I held on to was the small glimmer of hope within me, and it got me through everything, bringing me to where I am today. Trust that life will work out. Everyone on this planet and in the universe has a story; we all have struggles. So, don't give up; keep going, even if it's just a small step per day. It doesn't have to be grand; it could be as simple as waking up and grabbing coffee or tea for the day. Starting as simple as that is already you not giving up. Then go out there, try new things, and keep trying until you discover what you want to do. It took me ten years to discover what I truly wanted. So don't worry, you are not alone. We all have our timelines. Mine took ten years, and I am still discovering something new about myself each day. So, you aren't too late. It's okay to feel stuck, lost, and unsure, because these are small signs of you growing and realizing that whatever path you were on wasn't meant for you, but will always be part of your journey.

If you are someone looking for a safe space or are finding a place to meet like-minded people who are still on that journey of self-discovery and personal development. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or visit our website or our Becoming You YouTube channel. A place for all dreamers, new and old – fostering connections through stories.