“In every state of life, there’s usually one question you get all the time…because our brains crave completion and tidy conclusions” -Mari Andrew
Today is the 🌓🌔🌕 moon is waxing to full; it is ✅ Day 92/100 of my second 100-Day Project for this year, (theme: Benevolence, Wonder and Meaning).
I will be sharing daily reading notes from My Inner Sky by Mari Andrew through August 31. 😊 … However, [freedom] is my guide words for 2026 (and I am in the midst of my radiation ☢️ treatments), so please take that into consideration. 🪂
“There are so many times of life that feel like a twilight—while moving, while recovering, while unhappily single or ambivalently partnered.” -Mari Andrew
➡️ Braveheart, I am living in a time of twilight: anticipating my next chapter but not 🤔 exactly sure when the light of right now will conclude…ushering in the conclusion of nighttime 😴 and making 🌄 dawn possible.
“[Life] and brains don’t see eye-to-eye on [completion and tidy conclusions] because life is far messier than a brain ever wants to admit.” -Mari Andrew
This chapter begins with the absurdity of medical predictions for recovery because “the healing process is unquantifiable—a scribble, not a line” (Mari Andrew). 💯
“[I] felt crushed by an overwhelming apathy. My sharp emotions, which had long since guided me through my decision-making and my art, had dulled. I could no longer identify what I was feeling.” -Mari Andrew
While traveling in Spain, Mari was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome and was partially paralyzed. It was a difficult time of isolation and uncertainty, and she lost trust in her body due to the many uncertainties regarding her recovery.
“Depression doesn’t feel like something you have. I truly believed that my heart and my soul and spirit no longer wanted or enjoyed anything.” -Mari Andrew
Mari recovered, but suffering through an unexpected and debilitating illness abroad led to her next challenge: to overcome her sudden urge to stop traveling and live a no-risk 🚫 lifestyle.
“It’s the same feeling I get when I’m going on a date after a heartbreak….I didn’t realize how much my heart had been hunching up in self-defense until I exhaled all of my emotional tension in Dublin” -Mari Andrew
This experience was followed by a series of exhales for her during her time in Ireland. She visited a steel sculpture of a barren tree near a cathedral, its branches covered with leaf-shaped papers; each one a note, expressing love or a prayer.
“Whether the visitors believed in any greater power or not, they had come to this spectacular building in the middle of a city to ask for help, for themselves and for their world. They came here to remedy their distrust in themselves and in others.” -Mari Andrews
What does this have to do with right brain planning?
Braveheart, life itself is an ongoing series of exhales and choices. Asking for help, trying new adventures, and recovering from heartbreaks.
My right brain planners (dates, chronicled observations) have provided me with 📊 data from my life experiences. Data that ensures I continue exhaling and choosing my life.
Data is value-neutral; it is neither “good’ or “bad”—it is merely information to use for our choices and intentions, sparkly dares and conclusions. Helping us to move through what feels impossible and to recover from despair and apathy.
Thank you kindly for your presence here.
I appreciate your interest and support.
~love & good wishes~
Artist’s Statement 😊🔮🔎📝🖌️🎨❤️📊
❤️ Braveheart, as the Creator/Artist of Right Brain Planner I am ever-grateful to have the opportunity to share my creative work online + support other creators! 🎉 For almost 20 years I have had the privilege of sharing my art and writing about right brain planning while also hosting kindred 👭🏽💞👭 communities. ✨ I consider it an absolute delight to continue this portion of my creative work (even as I retire from full-time work).
This is possible, in part, by {you} and your presence here. ❤️ But also because of the support of my Ko-fi patrons and the other member/subscriber communities I host.
If you already have your own system of creative journal-planning, but are interested in financially supporting my creative work, you may do so by making a donation:
- Make a one-time contribution in any amount via [this link]. (Thank you!) ❤️