Marisa McGrady

Modern media makes self-love seem simple. Buy a bath bomb, apply a face mask, and voila! You've got self-love, commodified and canned for your convenience. But self-love cannot be bought. There is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to self-care. What happens once our bubble baths drain and feelings of self-loathing, doubt, or despair creep back in? How do our bodies, resource availability (including free time), and physical and emotional needs impact our ability to care for ourselves? Are our bodies "bad" just because certain industries, organizations, or people deem them so?

Social media sensation Marisa McGrady, also known as @ris.writes or the Fairy Godmother online, explores these questions and more in her debut self-help book, The Fairy Godmother's Growth Guide: Whimsical Poems and Radical Prose for Self-Exploration. The bite-sized poems in Part I propose new perspectives about our bodies that inspire us to see ourselves in different lights. The prose in Part II explains accommodating, sustainable approaches to self-care while addressing the harms of industrialized self-love and exploring the internal concepts and external factors that impact self-worth. The Fairy Godmother's Growth Guide will redefine your relationship with yourself and help you make your life more magical.