C O M I N G H O M E
Welcome to A. Mann’s World. My name is Audrey Leigh Mann. I am a mixed media artist, graphic designer, and writer. I am also a human who experiences occasional bouts of depression and anxiety along the way.
When I was twenty-one, my younger sister was diagnosed with schizophrenia and I lost my mind. Or at least I lost my bearings, which feels like losing your mind at an age when you’re just starting to get the hang of adult life. In the year that followed, I checked out of my reality through the abuse of drugs & alcohol. I fell into an insomniac routine, staying up all hours, waiting to get sick as well. Turns out schizophrenia doesn’t work like that, but it took months of sleepless nights before I would be convinced. Instead of that particular mental illness, I was stricken with survivor’s guilt and a complicated sense of grief; mourning the loss of someone who isn’t actually dead, but is no longer the person I once knew. I had to reconcile that a conversation with my sister is now a game of connect-the-dots with her scattered thoughts, and I often find myself clinging to those brief moments when we are both on the same page in present reality. I am learning to combat the bitterness I feel for only getting a brief time together as “sisters” and I am slowly finding a grace for our experiences growing up. Blame has no place in this home.
These days I refer to that time as “the absence of me,” and I have been collecting healthy coping strategies for over twenty years. This coming back to myself is a daily practice. Some days are amazing and other times, just getting out of bed in the morning feels brave. Success is measured in various manners. A. Mann’s World is not a professional therapy source. I am only one flawed human with an aim to share the little things that have made my big emotions feel more manageable. My hope is to provide a safe and aesthetic space to share the tools I have learned along my journey, and hopefully save you some time in getting through the mire to your own good stuff. How we successfully balance our mental health varies from person to person, but I have found a common thread is finding ways to return to a safe and secure base. Resurfacing from the absence of me has been a long process, but I continually return to these three guideposts to orient my bearings:
C R E A T E: Make art. Use your hands. Let them lead you home.
N O U R I S H: Feed your soul with physical movement, cooking, literature, and music.
N E S T: Create a safe space. This is your home base. Everything starts here.
Connection is my core value, and I look forward to finding new and creative ways to be vulnerable and make space for others.
You are welcome here. Always.
love & grace,
Audrey