Please welcome Mysti S. Milwee to the Writer's Journey Blog this week. I had no idea what Synethetic Ekphrasis meant when I read Mysti's submission. For that reason I have added this explanation:
"Spend a day at a museum or reading an art book. Choose a piece of artwork that you enjoy or that you find thought-provoking. Rather than composing an ekphrasis that comments on the artwork itself, try your hand at writing a poem in the “mode” of the artwork. This may mean writing a poem in the poetic style that you think is reflected by the artwork, or it may mean trying to write in what you perceive to be the “tone” or "voice" of the artwork." Quoted from Writers and Poets website at https://www.pw.org/content/ Now, for Mysti's lovely Journey!
My journey and career as a writer, poet, literary translator, screenwriter, and synesthesia artist, in multiple multi-disciplinary areas of expertise, has expanded my artistic freedom and expression in visual and written form. I am very passionate and dedicated to what I do. As a creative choosing many paths creatively, some of which have become professional careers.
I write for a reason, most importantly, to respond spiritually as a messenger in which I have been called to do. I write to help others, through encouragement, deep spiritual reassurance, to experience and work through emotions, and to help others heal in their own obstacles and life situations. Through my own experiences, I have been able to implement these experiences through my poetry and spoken word performances. I love what I do, and through poetry and spoken word poetry, I have been able to help others through their own personal pain and experiences, giving them hope and to help better their well-being, wellness, and mental health.
I write to help keep myself grounded in the reality of living. Writing is a way to address not only our feelings and emotions, but to better understand the deeper meaning of our life, how we cope, how we feel, addressing issues through writing, and creating worlds of fantasy and adventure in our own minds.
In our own mind’s eyes, we perceive thoughts and imagery, and those wavelengths project words to paper and how we react to the positive and negative energies around us.
As a Grapheme-color-imagery Synesthesia and ekphrastic poet, in which I write to and refer to artistic and poetic devices which attempt to express a linkage between the senses. Writing from multi-sensory experiences has driven my mind beyond seeing to a phenomenal height of illusion projected through words envisioned from an interpretation of dreams; emotions; sensations and vibes; and spiritual depth of dimension and aura (a three-dimensional feeling). This technique is a useful way to heighten and highlight a specific image or description and can be used to demonstrate confusion or excitement, it adds an extra layer of meaning and can make the imagery more complex and detailed. I also use "mnemonic devices” to write song lyrics and poetry, through a visual sound in the flow of words.
My experiences and emotions have heavily influenced my writing through poetry, screenplays, and or synesthesia painting. How you feel something you’ve experienced or not has a great deal of influence on how we react as human beings and how we use our gifts to react is a rewarding experience.
Writing from experience has not only changed my life on how I perceive in perspective and how I interpret things, but it has also proven that by writing I can reach and help more people through sharing my experiences through the creative arts, through literacy, and art.
Sharing those experiences has influenced me and has given me hope to continue writing and creating beautiful works of art to help provide healing and hope to those who are in need of finding their own peace, closure, hope, and giving them life again. By doing that, and seeing their smiling faces, and giving them joy, a sense of happiness again is one of the best feelings to experience.
Happy hearts are a joy to see! For that is fulfilling my purpose of living and giving.
Through my experiences in writing, writing poetry, and creating beautiful works of art, hasn’t been an easy road to success, but a long hard road in climbing and overcoming obstacles.
I want to take you back to where my journey first began. Now visualize and feel because where I come from, the sugar wasn’t always so sweet. Life had been hard, I endured a lot of pain, abuse, and hardship as a child. I scratched up dirt, dug a whole lot of holes, and scrambled towards success. That’s what made me who I am today as a professional writer and artist. Some days I was pretty much picking the pain out of old wounds, sparking anxiety flare-ups. But now, looking back. It was all worth it, knowing now that those old and now new tracks were all worth the bumps and victories.
I started writing when I was thirteen years old in middle school. What started my writing was about seeing tragedy and I wanted to do something to help others see and cope with the sadness and emotional distress. Being vulnerable with others was how I was able to help myself in my own situations, allowing them and myself to heal in the process. It was then, that I knew what my calling was and it made me happy. I was no longer silenced, I had found my voice. From then on, I started to shed my shell again (phase 2).
Writing enabled me to help myself through my bouts of low self-esteem and self-confidence my freshman year of high school, as I felt I was a creative outcast that lived in another dimension. I felt small at the time in my mind like I lived in the universe and was an old soul philosopher. So I started writing more, and the more I wrote the better I felt. It helped me see what my mind was thinking in my own mirror-image, an illusion where Satan was playing games with my mind of perception of how I perceived myself. But then God helped me see through writing, that I needed to love myself again no matter what. The writing was my power tool of self-expression, and how it totally changed my outlook on life was for the better.
Overcoming those obstacles of low self-esteem and confidence through writing was one of the biggest victories I’ve ever achieved.
Writing and creating is the most pleasing experience and giving God the credit for the gifts that He has given me, I was able to speak out and I no longer silenced my voice. I am happy to be able to fulfill the calling and purpose that He has called me to do. Writing for God and the people is a rewarding and happy experience, for that, I am thankful and grateful for this journey and path that He has put me on.
Being able to use my words and voice through ministry, academic and through synesthesia art and music across the globe now, in a beautiful, eccentric, and through a powerful message a testimony of faith and perseverance, is transparently expressed in a down to earth message, that provides peace, hope, and understanding through adversity.
Writing has also become my power tool to success! Writing powerful affirmations and notes of encouragement every day is one of my tools to success, and of course, the credit goes to God for giving me the stepping stones of success along my writing journey. From the past to the present, my bumps have become my victories. Through those bumps and victories, writing about them and talking about them is why I have become a motivational writer and speaker, and through my voice that enables change. This is just a piece of my story, my voice speaks the rest.
“Because our emotions are a reaction to living life, a transparent voice to express inevitably of our human nature to breathe words of wisdom and understanding.”
- Mysti S. Milwee (Author of “Human Reaction”)
Bio: Mysti S. Milwee is an International award-winning and published synesthesia artist (paints to music), poetess, writer, screenwriter, translator, book cover art designer, and illustrator from Southside, Alabama. She is the editor and publisher of Sequoyah Cherokee River Journal. She has a Native American background and is a Sequoyah-Cherokee translator. Her poetry, writings, and visual art has been published in over 3,000 + publications worldwide and in over 12 countries. She is the “Poet Laureate” of Fire Eagle Ministries, and over 1,000 poems have been written for over 50 ministries and outreach in over 12 countries. Her poetry, writings, and art have been used for academic and ministry studies across the US and abroad. She is the recipient of the 2021 International Cultural Arts & Literature Communications Collaborator Award, 2021 Global Translation Award in Native American Literature, 2020 International Native American Literary Translation Award, 2020 International Key to Success Award, 2020 International Golden Feather Leadership Scholar, 2020 Best Short Story for Documentary, 2020 Best Lyrics for Christian Music (for the song “Unsung Hero”), 2020 Best Lyrics for Music Video (for song lyrics “Through the Fire”, 2020 Global Arts & Humanities Award, 2020 Global Arts & Literary Culture Award and was awarded the 2020 Best Screenplay for “The Loner”. She is a “literary and arts mentor” with the International Team with One Million Talent Academy Plus, Assessment for Development. She is the author of her poetry book “Human Reaction” Inspirational Life Lessons Expressed in the Poetry of a Native American Woman’s Soul and is available for purchase on Amazon. To view more about the author visit: http://www.mystismilwee.wordpress.com/ Visit her online poetry and visual arts journal at: http://www.sequoyahcherokeeriverjournal.wordpress.com/
Click to check out the Human Reaction
Click for more about Mysti!
