My Inner Sky
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley May 6, 2021
Author Mari Andrew
Distributor: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 9781760879426
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Release Date: March 2021
Website: https://www.allenandunwin.com
On embracing day, night and all the times in between
Mari Andrew was living the dream. She was offered a chance to live in Spain, write a book and experience a vastly different lifestyle, to live in the moment, until the debilitating Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an auto-immune disease changed her lifestyle irrevocably. In the depth of pain and despair Andrew had to find a way forward, eventually realising that she needed to be honest with herself about her ‘new normal’ and in doing so slowly found a way continue to create through her art and writing.
My Inner Sky is her story of change, honesty and learning to stop to really look at the wonderful things that are occurring every day, if only we truly choose to look, rather than simply see. Moving to New York was a catalyst towards noticing, appreciating, believing and observing the small things in life that all add up to something wonderful, if only we take the time to enjoy living in the moment.
Lavishly adorned with wonderful watercolour washes used to highlight salient points of reflection and split into four aspects of the day, Golden Hour, Twilight, Night and Dawn each contain their own emotions, and reflections of Andrew’s journey; one of sharing, rebirth and understanding in the broadest sense of the word.
Cathartic definitely, but also offering understanding to those who are struggling with massive change in their life, My Inner Sky is also, in Andrew’s words a self-help book to a large degree, as she is saying buy accepting, understanding, then facing the unpalatable truth with bravery and honesty, developing a sense of community, or understanding the concept of community, in other words, learning more about a ‘broad church’ approach to life, new pathways can be forged and with them come new opportunities to live a rich and full life.
She uses the analogy of the sky being the broad canvas where even at its darkest moment, if you look hard enough you can find a star, and then another, which represents the love and kindness of the people who surround you and help you heal with their love and care.
Heartfelt and interesting, My Inner Sky has a wonderful honesty that shows the journey to healing is not easy, is filled with setbacks, false hope and depression, but eventually by learning to accept a new way forward, life can once again be good!