The only thing harder than recovering from a bad breakup is the death of a loved one. For writer and artist Mari Andrew, both bomb shells dropped at once.
As you can imagine, Mari was distraught and began looking for ways to cope with the overwhelming pain, and distract herself from obligatory feelings of grief.
While it's hard to find the light in such a dark place, Mari was able to crawl out of what she described to Nylon as, "The bottom of a pit."
She also tells the magazine, "I had to pull myself out. It took months to decide what was going to bring me out of this. I just wrote lists of things that make me happy. I liked to draw. I wanted to learn how to play guitar. I wanted to learn how to dance. So I just started all these hobbies. The doodling one stuck."
Today, Mari is a well known artist on Instagram with over 625,000 fans who love her relatable drawings.
Mari explores themes that most of us can relate to.
She looks into grief, relationships, self discovery, and plenty of other topics that speak to everyone who sees them.
Considering what Mari has gone through, it makes a lot of sense that her art appeals to so many other people who have had similar experiences.
Amazingly, Mari has never been formally trained in drawing or art.
According to Nylon, she just set herself the goal of delivering one doodle per day, and the rest was history!
She also explained to the magazine:
That was the amazing thing about having such a tough year, I just didn’t care anymore. I didn’t have to have a career. I didn’t have to have a boyfriend. I didn’t need to have abs. I can exercise because it makes me happy. I can start drawing because it makes me happy. It was very freeing.
Mari's drawings seem to strike the perfect balance of humor and raw emotion.
She isn't afraid to make fun of herself or her problems, but like every joke, there is some serious matter at the root.
Mari was 31-years-old by the time she began drawing and gaining traction for her work.
This is certainly a reassuring factoid for anyone who is still searching for their "thing."
Even if drawing isn't your thing, remember that it's always possible to learn more about yourself and about what really makes you happy.
Most importantly, remember that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel!
Be sure to SHARE Mari's relatable work with your loved ones!
