ABout Mari

Mari Andrew is a New York Times bestselling author, artist, and speaker, who has gained an international reputation for joyfully philosophical illustrations and essays that meander between deep and light, bitter and sweet. Mari is in the business of paying attention, and her work reflects her specific observations turned into universal life lessons. As writer Suleika Jaouad says, “At each turn, she uncovers hard-earned coins of wisdom in the most unlikely places.” 

Mari Andrew didn’t formally study writing or art, but her fabulously strange life path filled with stints in food service and retail, working multiple jobs in foreign countries, profound grief and heartbreak, mental health struggles, lots of solo travels, and a very odd serious disease, has prepared her well for a lifetime of appreciating and documenting each moment with equal attentiveness.

Mari currently lives in New York City, which is where she finds both creative spark and inner peace.

From Mari’s latest book, My Inner Sky, whiCH is basiCally her mission statement:

I love positive affirmations and intentional candles as much as the next millennial, but after a couple of years coming up heartbroken or just bored after striving for unsustainable happiness, I looked inside and thought, “Isn’t this all beautiful too?” When I finally gave up positive thinking for present thinking, that’s when I really began not only to get comfortable with this transitional period, but to see the beauty in it.

Giving my transitions as much attention and curiosity as my brightest after- noons has helped me appreciate the inner sky I’m continually trying to make more colorful. Who wants a sky that is blue all the time?

Give me some clouds, some rain, the occasional crazy lightning storm that makes your cat hide in the pile of socks in your closet.

Give me a night so dark it looks like a wall finished with black lacquer—the perfect backdrop for stars, an outdoor dance party, or an existential cry.

Give me early mornings where I’m rushing to the airport, to work, or to get coffee before the Sunday morning crowds, where I’m taken aback that the light is still pink and I think of the day as a newborn

Give me breezes, still air, rainbows, and those giant cumulonimbus clouds that look like friendly ancient grandfathers.

I want the full menu, everything available to me in this life: dark, bright, that purply-pink weird twilight color, and golden.

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NEW YORK NEW YORK NEW YORK NEW YORK! 

This will be such a ✨delight✨! I get to celebrate @danajerimaier’s book launch in Brooklyn! She’s a dear friend of mine but also a beacon of unending creative inspiration, and you’re invited to come join our chat all about creativity! 💫 

Dana’s new book is ideal for anyone who struggles with the so-called creative process (NOT ANYONE I KNOW, WINK WINK!!) and we’re going to get into it: experimentation, procrastination, social media, and all your burning questions. SEE YOU IN BROOKLYN! 🎨 

LINK IN BIO! ⤴️

💥 Kripalu Presenter 💥⁣⁣
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“Self love” can be a…daunting concept. When you have a lifelong, complicated relationship with someone (like yourself), you don’t just love them: You also like them. You also get annoyed with them. You have honeymoon periods and rough patches, and a responsibility to show you care.⁣⁣
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My beloved friend and life-changing teacher @ruthielindsey have been on the self-love journey for A MINUTE. We have both done so much healing and learning and un-learning, and now we have affection for ourselves that even rivals our affection for the birds in our backyards 🪺⁣
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So we’re teaching a retreat called BECOMING YOUR OWN BEST FRIEND from March 3-5 at @kripalucenter (in Western Massachusetts, close to Upstate New York).⁣⁣
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When Ruthie and I first talked about this retreat last summer (!) we kept using the words JOY, PLAYFULNESS, DELIGHT.⁣⁣
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Let’s hang out with our inner kid, inner teenager, inner 20-year-old, and fall in love with every version of ourselves ever (even the ones with the worst hairstyle of our lives/all time).⁣⁣
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Ruthie and I have both done a lottttttt of self-work and a lot of it has been hard. And tough. And involved getting extremely lost in the woods looking for a shaman along with the most confused Uber driver ever. Just two white ladies looking for a yurt, what else is new.⁣⁣
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But this time we want to bring some of the lightness, sweetness, sensuality, and smiles we’ve enjoyed in the past couple years. Growth doesn’t have to be so TOUGH. It can also be gentle, lovely, skippy. It can take place at an EDM concert or an empty cathedral, a movie theatre or on a date. It can happen through reading, steam-room-ing (my new thing), rollerskating, or sitting on your couch.⁣⁣
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I haven’t been to Kripalu yet (!!), but I’ve heard AMAZING things. Soul-shaping, mind-massaging, body-revitalizing things. Apparently the food is bomb, the land is sacred, and the massages are out of this world.⁣⁣
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Doesn’t that sound nice?!!⁣⁣
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Registration: Link in my bio or at kripalu.org. ⁣⁣
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Ruthie and I are going to lose our minds when we finally meet you! Let’s get endeared to ourselves, together.⁣⁣
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Photo by @carolwildphotography

About my “writing” “process,” from my latest newsletter

It makes me want to buy school supplies 🍂

Libra Season: a pearl earring dropped into the last morsels of the year, inviting us to seek out elegance, serenity, beauty, and juicy gossip.⁣

My favorite thing about being a Libra is the sound of the word Libra. Which is probably a Libra thing to say.

Photo by @carolwildphotography

🌳 In this week’s newsletter 🌳

Thinking about the great Mac Miller today: profound being and forever inspiration!!! 🤍

From my August 24 newsletter 🐞

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