uncustomary.org · @MerrimentMaker

If your life
looks fine
but feels empty...

I help people who are impressive on paper and quietly underwhelmed by their own life reconnect with the weird, curious, alive version of themselves that got buried under all that functionality.

The Mission I create playful experiments in joy, creativity, and kindness that help people break autopilot and participate in the world again.
As seen in
TODAY Show NPR BuzzFeed Washington Post Healthline AP News BetterHelp

Everything is technically fine.
And somehow that makes it worse.

You’ve done the therapy. You know your patterns. You’re self-aware enough to be exhausting to yourself. But somewhere along the way you stopped actually living and started just managing.

Everything is technically fine. And somehow that makes it worse.

👁️  You’re impressive on paper but privately running on empty
🧠  Too smart for toxic positivity, too tired to pretend everything’s fine
😮‍💨  The world wasn’t built for a brain like yours... and you feel it
💛  You miss finding things genuinely, embarrassingly delightful
🌀  You know your patterns. You’re exhausting to yourself.

How it works

The Merriment Method

A psychologically grounded framework for getting back to feeling alive; built from lived experience + science, not tote bag slogans.

1
💛
Feel Good
Reconnect to yourself; your weird, fun, + safety.
Self-Love Inner Child Nervous System
2
🎨
Create Good
Turn the internal feeling into something external and tangible. Your version of the yarnbomb.
Creativity Play Expression
3
Do Good
Take it outside yourself. If our cup is full, it's selfish not to share.
Kindness Street Art Advocacy
Movement
Expression
Rituals
Relationships
Inner Child
Merriment
Enchantment
Nervous System
Truth

I didn’t plan any of this.

For a long time I was what I called a walking symptom. Managing a brain and body that seemed designed to make everything harder... dozens of diagnoses, substances, self-harm, dating professional con men... the kind of darkness that belongs in a movie, not a life. I wasn’t living. I wasn't even surviving.

Getting out of that required the hardest work I’ve ever done. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) was one of the top three most difficult experiences of my life... and I’ve had a life full of difficult experiences. But I did it.

“When I was finished with CBT I felt like there was so much space in my mind I didn’t know what to do with myself. Like someone who recently retired... 'What do do with all this time?!' But for me it was mental space; because my symptoms weren’t in charge anymore. I was.

So I thought about what I was going to do with all that space and my body told me: create. Remember that shoebox under your bed as a kid? Full of pom poms, pipe cleaners, glitter, and stickers? Make one of those again. Stop waiting for a fancy enough day to celebrate. It’s now.

So I went outside and yarn-bombed a pole.

The famous yarnbomb — colorful knitted stripes on a Baltimore parking meter

The famous yarnbomb. Where it all started.

Younger Mary sitting on the sidewalk next to the yarn-bombed parking meter

A younger Mary, mid-yarn-bomb. The beginning.

I entered a street art contest and felt more like myself than I had in years sitting on that curb, amateurly stitching up a yarnbomb. I kept going. I was documenting the art, the experiments, the weird little joy missions on a blog. I wasn’t calling it self-love yet. I was just finally doing things that felt like me.

And then the emails started. People asking how they could find their way back to feeling alive like I had. That’s when I realized I hadn’t just found my way back. I’d accidentally mapped the route.

That map became The Merriment Method. The route back to yourself is usually something you loved before the world told you to grow up. Mine was a yarn bomb. Yours might be something else entirely. Let’s find it.

Where do you want to start?

There’s no right order. Pick the entry point that matches where you are right now.

Gateway · Community
Strange & Functional

A community for the successfully unhinged.

Strange and Functional resource library inside Mighty Networks
  • 280+ psychologically grounded resources
  • Community feed, live check-ins & EFT sessions
  • Inspirational hotline
  • Merriment AI - your custom whimsy coach
  • Member-only events & discounts
  • New content added every week
$37/month  ·  or $333/year (3 months free)
Join the Community →
The Deep Dive · Full Framework
The Merriment Making Method

The complete system. 2,000+ resources. The whole map.

1500+ Merriment Making resources including masterclasses on joy, creativity, self-love
  • Full Feel Good → Create Good → Do Good framework
  • All 9 MERRIMENT pillars
  • 1,500+ tools: pep talks, EFT, workshops, challenges
  • 90+ guerrilla kindness missions
Included free when you join
  • Self-Love 101: Mary’s signature course
  • The Merriment Making e-book: Mary’s 2nd published book
  • Three best-selling e-courses + all archived experiences over 10 years
$97/month  ·  or $873/year (3 months free)
Get the Full Method →
Real World · Experiential
Real World Merriment

Joy that happens outside your screen.

🚪 Door Whimsy

Commissioned surprise installations for people you love. Birthdays, milestones, just because.

✨ Operation Merriment

Live events where we make something together and take it into the world.

🎤 Speaking

Keynotes on joy, absurdism, mortality awareness, and reconnecting with your weirdness.

Real words from real Merriment Makers
Cheaper Than Therapy
★★★★★
These are the kind of tools that people go to therapy for. For most people, actual therapy is not accessible in the way that this is. The tools you can learn are things you would get in that setting. I think that in itself is worth it to me.
Erin Allison
Erin Allison
Merriment Maker
Only Membership I’ve Kept
★★★★★
There’s so many memberships out there. Most I dip out after 1–3 months. But I’ve kept my membership for 6 years. The community is so refreshing! Others who embrace their authentic weirdness. My life is honestly so much brighter.
Lola
Lola
Merriment Maker
You Could Stay for Years
★★★★★
I don’t think it’s obvious the depth of information and resources that are actually in this group on the outside. If you interact with people, this can be as immersive as you want it to be. You could go for years and just deep dive into all the stuff.
Jenn M.
Jenn M.
Merriment Maker
So Much to Offer!
★★★★★
I don’t know if there’s even any other groups out there that exist like this. Having the ability to go beyond their own internal work and do some one on one coaching; if that’s something they need for a particular point in their life.
Elisha
Elisha
Merriment Maker
Laugh Until You Cry
★★★★★
This is one of the best and most cost effective things you can do to take care of yourself. Mary’s creativity never ceases to amaze me, a 68 year old woman. Mary is full of light and love, without being unrealistic. Laugh until you cry.
Jane
Jane
Merriment Maker
Perfect for ADHD Brains
★★★★★
If you have ADHD, Positive Pulse fits how your brain works; drop in when you need inspiration, joy, or creativity. No pressure. Just support that fits real life.
Alanna
Alanna
Merriment Maker
Real Results in Week One
★★★★★
Within the first week, I learned real self-care and new mental health techniques that are already helping my anxiety and depression day to day.
🌈
Lorraine
Merriment Maker
The World Needs You
★★★★★
Moving slowly through your program, I started to cry. I’m beyond thrilled to know you’re out there. The world needs you.
Brandy
Merriment Maker

You’re becoming a
Merriment Maker 🌈

When you feel good, it’s so much easier to do good. We need Merriment Makers from all walks of life.

✶ Notices strange beauty ✶ Questions invisible rules ✶ Interrupts routine with curiosity ✶ Creates small moments of delight ✶ Spreads kindness into the world ✶ Participates instead of drifting
Mary England laughing and holding bananas like a phone — portrait of the Fun Philosopher
Hi, I’m Mary! 🍌

The Merriment Maker

Mary England

Psychology-informed Fun Philosopher, public artist & professional weirdo

I’m a Baltimore-based creator with a psychology background who helps burned out, sensitive, creatively inclined humans break autopilot and feel like themselves again.

After years of rebuilding myself through creativity, humor, and the radical idea that joy is a serious tool... not a frivolous one. I started making the resources I wish had existed for me. This work is psychologically grounded, fact-checked, and also completely unafraid of absurdity.

I care about science and bubbles. Data and glitter. Nervous systems and banana phones. My approach isn’t “optimize your mindset... it’s closer to David Lynch talking to you at 3 AM in a diner. Strange, honest, a little funny, and surprisingly grounding.

Psychology Background Public Artist Baltimore, MD @MerrimentMaker Published Author Event Speaker
As seen in
TODAY Show NPR BuzzFeed Washington Post Healthline AP BetterHelp

Ready?

Too smart for easy answers.
Too tired to pretend
everything is fine.

You’ve found the right place. Pick a door and let’s figure out the rest together.

Find me & follow along
@MerrimentMaker everywhere that counts

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