uncustomary.org · @MerrimentMaker

The Merriment
Maker Ecosystem

Tools, experiences & weirdly wonderful community for breaking autopilot and participating in life again.

The Mission "I create playful experiments in joy, creativity, and kindness that help people break autopilot and participate in the world again."
Where Do You Start?
Always Free
Positive Portal
Free forever 🎉
A playful, low-pressure joy library for reconnecting to yourself. Tiny tools. No timelines. Curiosity welcome.
  • 60 curated joy resources
  • Alt-Joy Archetypes — find your joy type
  • 30 Days of Happiness Calendar
  • 1 Minute / 7 Day Challenges
  • Feel-Good Foundations
  • Self-Love & Acceptance tools
  • Play & Personality resources
  • Emotional Alchemy support
No right order. No timeline. Let your curiosity lead.
Explore Free →
⭐ Most Popular
Positive Pulse
$5 / month · Cancel anytime
Your happy hub. For burned out, creatively inclined, silly weirdos who are allergic to beige self-help.
  • 280+ psychologically grounded resources
  • Everything in the free Portal, plus 200 more
  • Full course library
  • Merriment AI — custom joy coaching
  • Community chat + daily check-ins
  • Member-only live events
  • Discounts on programs & workshops
  • Support for all Alt-Joy Archetypes
  • New content added every single week
Feeling good → making good → doing good. That's the throughline.
Join for $5 →
High Touch · 2 Spots Only
Alt-Joy Mentorship
$3,000 / mo · 2-month minimum
A 1:1 sanctuary for women in their becoming. Not a coach above you — a witness beside you.
  • Weekly 60–75 min 1:1 sessions
  • Unlimited Voxer voice & text support
  • Personalized rituals & practices
  • Identity + Joy Mapping
  • Nervous system + somatic support
  • Wonder restoration & creative activation
  • Merriment in Motion™ process
  • Payment plans available
You're not paying for information. You're paying for attunement.
Apply Now →
Inside the Positive Pulse — a living library you can enter based on what you need that day
A living library you enter based on what you need that day. 🌈
💛 Positive Portal vs. Positive Pulse — What's the Difference?
Both are low-pressure, no-timeline, curiosity-led. Here's what sets them apart.

🌀 Positive Portal (Free)

  • 60 curated joy resources
  • Alt-Joy Archetypes — find your joy type
  • 30 Days of Happiness Calendar
  • 1 Minute / 7 Day Challenges
  • Feel-Good Foundations
  • Self-Love & Acceptance tools
  • Play & Personality resources
  • Emotional Alchemy support
  • Static — same 60 resources always
"Think of this like a starter greenhouse for joy: small, intentional, low-pressure, and full of tiny things that grow big feelings over time."
Every Offering at a Glance
Free Download
5 Minute
Joy Boosters

Tiny nervous system resets disguised as fun. No prep, no perfection, no pressure.

  • Works on low energy days
  • Takes 5 minutes or less
  • Plus Good News in your inbox
Grab your free copy →

No spam. No beige self-help. Just joy, delivered with love. 🌈

Merriment in the Wild 🌈

This is what it looks like when joy becomes a practice — and a public spectacle.

🎨 Public Art Mary installing rainbow rain mural on Baltimore brick wall
Rainbow Rain, Baltimore
One of Mary's participatory public art installations — turning blank walls into wonder.
📢 Operation Merriment Honk if you're a chaos muppet street corner signs
"Honk if you're a chaos muppet"
Strangers stopped. Horns honked. Joy happened.
🫧 Joy Flash Mob Joy flash mob bubble party in the street
Surprise bubble attack
Unsuspecting neighborhood. Lots of bubbles. Zero regrets.
✦ This Is What Hope Looks Like You Belong Among Bubbles signs on the ground
"You belong among bubbles. Silly on purpose. Dance break in progress."
The signs people carried at an Operation Merriment joy flash mob.
What People Say
Erin Allison
Erin Allison
Merriment Maker
★★★★★
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.

Lola
Lola
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.

Jenn M.
Jenn M.
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.

Elisha
Elisha
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 that they need for a particular point in their life to move past something.

Jane
Jane
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.

Alanna
Alanna
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.

🌈
Lorraine
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.

Brandy
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.

Meet Mary
Mary England — the Merriment Maker
👋 Hi, I'm Mary!
The Merriment Maker
Mary England
Psychologist-informed joy guide, 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
As seen in
TODAY Show NPR BuzzFeed Washington Post Healthline AP BetterHelp
Find me & follow along
@MerrimentMaker everywhere that counts
On Air
Everything Sucks,
Now What?
A Merriment Method for a Messy World  ·  with Mary England
140+ Episodes
Everything Sucks, Now What? podcast cover art
About the show

For people who feel the weight of reality but still want to build something kinder inside it. Each episode explores how to hold two truths at once: grief and hope, rage and responsibility, realism and joy.

We name what's broken. Then we ask what we can do about it. Through psychological insight, cultural analysis, and gently absurd real-life examples, Mary translates big systemic issues into personal, livable frameworks.

Care & Power Burnout Relationships Joy & Grief Systems Thinking Mental Health Responsibility Nuance
Listen on

You're becoming a
Merriment Maker 🌈

This isn't about consuming content.
It's about becoming a different kind of person.

✦ Notices strange beauty ✦ Questions invisible rules ✦ Interrupts routine with curiosity ✦ Creates small moments of delight ✦ Spreads kindness into the world ✦ Participates instead of drifting
Featured In
You may have seen Mary here ✦
TODAY TODAY Show
NPR NPR
BuzzFeed BuzzFeed
The Washington Post Washington Post
Healthline Healthline
AP AP News
BetterHelp BetterHelp
Parade Parade
Mary's work has been called "genuinely unlike anything else in the wellness space"
because it is.

Why Having A Positive Attitude Isn’t Bullshit

Last week, an article called "'Positive Attitude' Bullshit: On The Dangers Of 'Radical Self Love'" was published, and it really made me feel bad. It focuses on figures like Oprah Winfrey, and one of my personal heroes, Gala Darling, who preach self-love to the masses....

Why Bespoke Interiors Are the Fastest Growing Trend in Luxury Home Design

There's a particular kind of fatigue that comes from walking into a beautifully finished home and feeling like you've seen it before. The limewash walls, the japandi-adjacent furniture, the linen everything. It's not bad. It's often genuinely well done. But it's also...

6 Daily Habits for Improving Mental Health

Many people overlook the fact that mental health is just as important as physical health. If you are struggling with stress, anxiety, or depression, it becomes difficult to live your day to day life. Just like your physical health, your mental wellbeing benefits from...

4 Tips to Get the Most From A Trip to Las Vegas

It’s not hard to see why Las Vegas is such a popular tourist destination. This, after all, is a city that’s specifically designed for you to have a good time.  And that’s just what tens of millions of travelers, many of them repeat visitors, do each year. The city...

Why Energy Casino is one of the leaders in the Polish gambling sector

Introduction Poland stands as a significant force within the European iGaming landscape, with platforms like Energy casino establishing a prominent presence. The Polish online gambling market represents a valuable, and highly competitive arena. Yet, its tightly...

Why Fascinators Are More Than Just Derby Accessories

The first time I wore a fascinator I felt a little out of place.. It was a small sculptural thing, black sinamay, perched at an angle on the side of my head with a single comb that kept sliding, and I spent most of the event convinced it was about to fall into...

Smelly Pup? Here’s Why You Should Look Into Odor Removing Dog Shampoos

My dog Biscuit smells like a bag of Fritos when he's clean and something considerably worse when he's not. I've made peace with the Fritos thing -- apparently it's a yeast thing with paws and a lot of dogs do it -- but the "not clean" version took me a while to solve...

Unconventional Ways to Add More Joy and Play Into Your Daily Life

Joy does not always arrive on its own. Sometimes you have to build the conditions for it. The good news is that play is not just for kids, and joy is not only for people who have everything figured out. Whether you are going through a rough patch or just feel a little...

Documents, Eligibility, and Verification: How to Prepare for Your Online Medical Marijuana Evaluation in Virginia

Navigating the medical marijuana process can feel overwhelming. You may worry about complicated paperwork, high fees, or long waits at a clinic. Many Virginia residents also question whether they even qualify. The good news is that the process has become far more...

Opening Doors: How Depression Treatment Unlocks a Better Life

Depression wraps around you like a heavy fog. It blocks out light and makes every step feel impossible. You might wake up each day just to drag through it, wondering if joy is gone for good. But here's the truth. Depression treatment opens real doors to a fuller life....

4 Self-Help Sites Worth Your Time

If you’re looking to improve your physical or mental well-being, the internet offers thousands of high-quality resources, many of which are completely free. From structured therapy programs to evidence-based mental health articles, there is no shortage of support at...