About Me

Hi, I'm Marieke!
An optimistic, adventurous, marketing manager, illustrator, creative, do-gooder, and a happy dreamer of course!… Until suddenly I wasn't all that anymore. In the summer of 2015 - while I had my dream job and was super happy living with my husband Lars in Australia - I fell into a cloud of anxiety, fear and panic. The situation was urgent and we had to decide to move back to The Netherlands.
There I was, with anxiety, a deep depression, burn-out, or whatever you’d like to call it. Without any idea or hope how I would ever get out if this mess. Or even worse, I was absolutely certain I would never feel better again. The end of an adventure? The end of Marieke? Or was it a new beginning?
Yes, it was! I’ve done a lot of things and slowly but steadily I started feeling better. When I felt fully recovered I made this book, so whenever I should go through a similar situation again, I would have a step by step guide to get out of the situation. After receiving a lot of positive feedback I decided to make copies so other people could use it as well. And now it’s here for you. Fully re-drawn and rewritten in English. It’s my wish for you that it will help you as it helped me.
Lars and I published the book ourselves, on the same, lovely way as the book was made: Straight from the heart. An exciting, special but also vulnerable project. But as Pippi Longstocking allegedly said "I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that."
Lots of love, Marieke

Together with Finn & Lars