Out of the Blue

Every week, Mari Andrew shares her reflections on a wide range of topics, highlighting the joyful, challenging, profound, superficial, delightful, and tough aspects of life that capture her interest.

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Why I write

1 week ago | mariandrew.substack.com | Mari Andrew

Support an independent bookstore AND get a signature filled with love!July 15: I’ll be storytelling on stage at Sixth and I in Washington DC, but the event will also be streamed virtually so you can watch from anywhere at any time. RSVP HERE!July 18: I’ll be at Strand Bookstore in New York City. RSVP HERE!So I’ve been watching the Pee-wee Herman documentary.
How to rewild a career

3 weeks ago | mariandrew.substack.com | Mari Andrew

Do you have strong opinions about the existence of grass lawns? I didn’t either, until I started learning about animals, which led me to learning about their habitats, which led me to a lot of anti-lawn opinion pieces and TED Talks and Instagram accounts. Out of the Blue is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Blue Notes #26: On Naming a Child

1 month ago | mariandrew.substack.com | Mari Andrew

Hi Beautiful People!I realize that a lot of my missives lately have been behind a paywall, and I want to be very conscious of that! It’s because of this specific season I find myself in at the moment: My heart feels increasingly porous and open and I feel called to share increasingly personal thoughts rather than maybe-helpful general ideas. At the same time, I feel increasingly, intensely protective of my little nest, and would rather cushion my thoughts from being easily-searchable online.
Everything I Loved in April

1 month ago | mariandrew.substack.com | Mari Andrew

Hello beautiful people!I spent the first few days of May preparing for and hosting my second-to-last-ever retreat in North Carolina, which was the sweetest way to begin such a darling month. There was mountain mist involved, and a real-time eruption of crocuses, and these masterpiece cookies if you can even imagine:If you want to come to my actual last retreat ever, it’s next month in the New York area! I heard a rumor that crocuses might even treat us an encore performance.
Blue Notes #25: Pregnancy, Second Trimester

1 month ago | mariandrew.substack.com | Mari Andrew

First Trimester reflections here. God bless NYC. Even at almost 40 years old, everyone has correctly assumed this is my first baby. “And last!” I cheekily grin. “You never know…” they always reply in earnest. This doesn’t so much annoy me as throw me into questioning my own reality. What do they know that I don’t!? Oh right, nothing.
What are you training for?

2 months ago | mariandrew.substack.com | Mari Andrew

Overheard in my weightlifting group:“What are you training for?”“Old age.”I chuckled at that answer, and completely relate. Ever since I started weightlifting in earnest a couple years ago, I am far more invested in the twin underdogs, ‘Inner Thigh Day’ and ‘Hamstring Day,’ than their more popular, vanity boosting cousins (‘Outer Glutes Day’ is always packed!). That’s because inner thighs and hamstrings are going to keep me from wobbling to and fro on the subway and breaking my hip.
The season of visibility

2 months ago | mariandrew.substack.com | Mari Andrew

Last Saturday, for the very first time in my entire life, I told someone I was in the bathroom line in front of them. I was mid-dinner on a ripe plum of a spring night, at one of those tiny New Yorky restaurant just claustrophobic enough to feel exciting. There was only one tiny bathroom in the back, and a cluster of young beautiful people swirling cocktails around in front of the door. I assumed they were waiting for it as…a group?
Creativity Retreats Q&A

2 months ago | mariandrew.substack.com | Mari Andrew

Since these are the final two creativity retreats I plan to teach (at least for a looooong time), they are particularly special and I hope you can come!!! Here are a few questions you might have:Well okay! I’m coming back to Art of Living Retreat Center in the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains to teach a weekend workshop on telling YOUR story. I’ll focus on writing stories from lived experience and memory, with optional art prompts if you’d rather draw it out.
Everything I Loved in March

2 months ago | mariandrew.substack.com | Mari Andrew

Here was the planter in front of this godawful civic building in February:And here it was yesterday!The other day I saw a video of a baby goat learning to walk on his first day of life. While much more competent than a young human of pretty much any age, he was wobbly and stumbly, buckling under his tiny weight as he figured out what legs are for on damp green grass.
My book cover!!!!

Mar 21, 2025 | mariandrew.substack.com | Mari Andrew

Hello beautiful people!After five years of yapping about writing this book, it finally has a name and a cover and a full set of insides! If you find the cover-making process remotely interesting, here was my journey:I fully illustrated the covers of my last two books so I expected to do that here, but it’s a different kind of book for a different part of the bookstore (so proud that it will be venturing off without its buddies!).