- MARINA published her first book of poetry, Eat the worldOctober 29
- In the book, the singer-songwriter delves deeply into the themes of trauma and growing up
- She opens up to PEOPLE about healing from eating disorders, which many of her readers experience
In 2022, MARINA decided to make a small detour from her usual songwriting and write poetry. She found that the lack of structure opened the door to the darkest parts of herself.
On Tuesday, October 29, MARINA published her first book of poetry under the title Eat the world via Penguin Random House. In the book, MARINA delves deeply into personal topics such as trauma, love, eating disorders and her youth. Ultimately, she hopes it can bring a sense of belonging to her readers.
“The way our world has changed with technology and social media, we’ve been forced to be a little more disconnected from each other and also from ourselves because we’re so focused on the images we create of ourselves,” MARINA, 39, tells PEOPLE exclusively .
“This book is very raw and honest and glorifies parts of me that I probably hide a lot,” she continues. “I really hope it fills those gaps between people, that it’s okay to have those shadowy areas of ourselves that maybe need to be integrated instead of suppressed and hidden.”
Putting something so vulnerable to read was scary at first for MARINA. However, after going on a book tour, she found that people were really enthusiastic about her experiences.
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“There is a shared humanity in many of these issues,” she says. “I also know a lot of pop artists don’t talk about them because we’re so focused on image, but really we’re all flawed human beings who struggle with different things day to day at different times in our lives.”
One of the main themes that people relate to is her journey with an eating disorder. And although MARINA feels far from that period of her life, she understands “how difficult it can be for people who suffer”.
“I think one of the main takeaways from that for me was focusing not so much on the fact that … it’s not about wanting to be skinny. It’s a surface layer problem,” she says. “But underneath there are usually self-worth issues or self-esteem issues that create these needs to control or change the way we look. So often the behavior masks a much deeper problem.”
In the end, MARINA realized that focusing on strengthening the “inner parts of yourself” had an effect on “outer behavior.”
In the book of poetry, MARINA also talks about social expectations for women to have children. At this point in her life, she has no desire to have children – and is grateful that she has the freedom and space to make that decision.
Eat the world.
Penguin Random House
“Around 35, I really challenged myself and thought carefully about it for a few years. And then I gave myself the space and freedom to just feel the way I did, which is that I don’t want to have children,” she shares. “I just don’t have the bandwidth in me and that’s okay because I have other things that I find more exciting in this life.”
She adds: “Once I made that decision or allowed myself that space, everything cleared up and I feel aligned and now I can just enjoy my life. But I also always give myself space to change my mind if I want to.”
MARINA is still open to what life has to offer, including meeting someone with children and becoming a stepmother one day.
“I’d be the one bringing coffee with coffee to the kids in glamorous clothes,” she jokes. “I feel very at peace with that decision. I think it’s something important to talk about because I want to give young women, or women my age, the freedom to choose.”
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Looking back on the entire writing process, MARINA says that “Cahura” is the last song she wrote — and it turned out to be “the most important”.
“It just wrapped up or summed up this whole chapter of my life. It’s the last step in moving into this new chapter as a new version of me. It’s the end of a very difficult period,” she says.
Fittingly, MARINA celebrated her 39th birthday on October 10 and reflected on the past year, which taught her that “giving back to yourself equally in the way you give to others is very important so that you draw from a full glass.”
“For next year, I hope there will be a lot more connection and enriching relationships. Now I have such good people in my life and I know what it feels like to have those close relationships – because for a long time I think I have been kind to the lack,” she adds. “So just more of that and more events like this where we talk about very human subjects that allow me to step outside of my role as a pop artist.”
Eat the world it’s out now.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education