‘From The Depths of Darkness, A New Flame Was Ignited’ by Marijana Martino – published in Great Health Guide (Feb 2016). Marijana was in her late 30’s when she was struck down by three significant traumas – a debilitating stroke, the loss of her beloved father, who was her last living parent, followed by major stomach surgery and a three month stay in hospital. However, she was able to turn her life around. Read her story of her journey to recovery.
Read other Impact articles on Great Health Guide, a hub of expert-inspired resources empowering busy women to embody health beyond image … purpose beyond measure.
IMPACT: From The Depths of Darkness, A New Flame Was Ignited
written by Marijana Martino
Marijana Martino is the owner of flourishing Melbourne candle company, Soy Vella Candles. Anyone who meets Marijana, a married mother of one, falls in love with her effervescent personality and her passion for creating hand poured beautiful candles. But her passion has come from a hard road travelled and only her strength, vision and the encouragement of family and friends has bought her to the success she is experiencing today.
Marijana was in her late 30’s when she was struck down by three significant traumas – a debilitating stroke, the loss of her beloved father, who was her last living parent, followed by major stomach surgery and a three month stay in hospital. Her weight plummeted to 40 kilos; she was lucky to be alive.
She describes her journey of recovery:
I was off work for 6 months and it took well over 12 months to get back to normal. l still am not 100%, l often forget what l am saying or l stop to think on what l am going to say which can be embarrassing. My husband Lorenzo and daughter Chelsea helped me so much, showering and dressing me, taking me to toilet and keeping me positive.
Going through this life experience opened my eyes to what life is really about. When you have your 14-year-old daughter saying to you ‘Mum l don’t want you to die, I need you’, you fight with every ounce of your mind and body to stay alive and keep fighting for your family. I actually lost the will to live after my father died. I had been working so hard and not treating myself with respect.
It is strange to look back and see how this terrible period ended up leading me to a wonderful time in my life. Back then I felt very incomplete, l hated it, l felt hopeless. I am a very independent person and for this to happen to me was totally devastating. I needed something to do to occupy my mind and time while I recovered. I needed something to keep me busy so l wouldn’t think of the things that had happened to me. I also wanted to try and build a business where l didn’t have to work for someone else who didn’t appreciate me as a person.
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Candle making presented itself to me and I began to experiment with the process, enjoying creating beautiful fragrances and sourcing interesting jars. Making candles put me in ‘the zone’ and helped me recover. It was amazing. It gave me a new life, a new focus. Now I have a growing business, which I have created in honor of my father. I have met so many wonderful people who continue to bring light into my life.
I believe that life has thrown me so many challenges but the key to success is to never give up and just be true to yourself. My message is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed. These are great qualities to work towards. You have to live life by your own terms and not to worry about what other people think. You have to have the courage to do the unexpected.
You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance that you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own. Believe in yourself believe in the power you have to change your life. There is life after a stroke and l am living proof! Remember there is life after every hurdle you will encounter!
Live Your Life…. Be Free…
Author of this article:
Marijana Martino is the founder of Soy Vella Candles, a Melbourne based online candle company. The company motto is ‘Happiness is the scent of a Soy Vella candle’.
