Poetry/Art/Year Round Up
So Here I am after a Year
A Medium Round Up and a Gratitude Note
L ittle early in May this year, I received a heartwarming note from the editors of ‘About Me’, asking me to write my introduction, as many writers in this platform proceed to do, as a way of introducing themselves.
I was almost lured to follow suit, before I realised how difficult it was for me to write one.
Writing about my qualifications or the place and tradition I came from will only give an overview of my immediate environment.
And it is always a hill climb for me to untie my emotional knot, and delve deep to look at the real me.
Being out of action even before life actually started for me led to some years of serious introspection.
When spending time with myself, I realised I had many conflicting self in me, maybe resulting from social conditioning, the education system I was exposed to, and who I actually was.
As a teenager coming to myself ,I always felt wild upheaval of emotions, my mind running erratic wanting to do things which I knew may not be acceptable in my then current environment.
Coming from a love wrapped childhood, where parents encouraged opinion, imagination, decision-making and freedom, while supporting us unconditionally, the natural rebel in me was always relegated to the back-burner.
Maybe a down side of my protected up bringing which came with its own cost.
Stepping into the adult world, with an unsorted me, a part always shoved under the carpet as it will scare me to hell, I felt the social burden in a way it made me sick.
I could not adjust to most things around me, in the form of humans, routines, social functioning — it was only my dogged determination (may be called ambition) that kept me in action for some years before I fell ill enough to withdraw from this world.
I can attribute this maladjusted me and my struggles to fit in, a trigger to my illness.
In my twenties and out of job, I only saw a sea of nothingness around me and thus withdrew from my social surroundings.
Needless to say I was breathing better mentally, though physically it got difficult sometimes.
My Journey through Art:
But I realised I needed a release,
which serendipitously came through a blog, I read one fine morning, which spoke about Colour Therapy for mental health, on which I wrote in details in the following articles:
On the back of these two articles, came my first interview on my Art journey, conducted by none other than Yana Bostongirl for her Column “Life”.
Being untrained and instinctive with my creations, the reception and enthusiasm around the interview surprised me, though I came riding some success of people purchasing my canvas and my art being featured in online home page of Art Galleries, I always thought they were one off. The response here gave me the confidence that I can think of Art seriously.
You can read the interview here, with Yana Bostongirl
During this time, as a writer for the publication Literary Impulse, I was contacted to become an illustrator for their independent publication wing ShabdAaweg, and worked on their Winter, Spring Issues, the process for which is documented here .
Literary Impulse , at the same time ideated When-paintings-and-words-combine-part-2 prompt, and chose one of my paintings for the same. You can check on the wonderful responses that came through, which were collated by publication editor Somsubhra Banerjee here:
With a ‘Thank you’ to editors Priyanka Srivastava, Somsubhra Banerjee
All this ended well with me receiving the Top Writer for Art badge in March, soon followed by badge for Top writer in Photography, in the same month.
Writing Poetry and my Poetry Blog (Publication):
And this brings me to Soul Bay.
Soon after receiving my Top Writer in Poetry badge November last year, a little over two months after joining Medium (which came as a pleasant surprise),I garnered some confidence to have my own space, which I could design exactly my way with my thoughts and hues, the idea from which Soul Bay was born.
I knew it was early and staying with established publications will always render me with more eyeballs,
but I wanted to write absolutely my way, not to prove I was different , but to untie my noetic mesh and understand my intrinsic process better.
Coming from a background of Science/ Business Management and learning poetry only at school level, it was important for me to experiment with my thoughts and ideas independently and see how it was being received.
Being shy and introverted, and usually taking long to open up , I found it easy to feed my space with my words and art as and when I wished, without having to knock any other’s door (no offence intended here, please).
I took a lot of time warming up to writers, reading and commenting on their work with some ease, as a feeling of inadequacy was deep rooted, coupled with my intrinsic human averse nature.
Strangely, I found collaborators dropping in in Soul Bay, reading, commenting on a somewhat regular basis in a few days time.
I slowly became easy with my experiments, widening out on the weird ways I looked at things, which found its way through my Poetry.
@CloudCafe became home to my flare rants, autoimmune journaling and my ways of seeing life, its philosophy and abstraction of it .
Around that time Regina Clarke, who helms an amazing interview publication So, My Friends Why Do You Write, approached me for an interview, which was published in May this year.
I was genuinely elated, being placed beside some very popular and exciting names and the way Regina introduced me:
If I look back, I was too constrained and inhibited while doing this interview, as they were early days and know I will do it differently today.
But it is done and it’s there and you can find the interview on my writing process here:
Holistic Journey Towards Wellness: A Book
In all this exciting things coming my way, I did not lose focus on one fact — why I chose to write in the first place.
In my days of solitude, trying to negotiate a life altering, seriously debilitating illness, I looked for articles, blogs or self help write ups which will aid me finding more good days than bad. Sadly, they were few and far between.
Finally I found a support group which led me to writing as a process of self healing and providing pragmatic insights to others in the same boat.
So, when Dancing Elephant Press asked me to share my journey to wellness , I took this opportunity to document it along with 20 other authors writing about their own wellness journey.
It took six months to complete writing and three months of editing and the book is finally in public domain, much to our delight.
A note of thanks to the editors Dr. Gabriella Korosi Dr. Preeti Singh Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles Sharing Randomly for their tireless effort to ready the book which is available in both e- and paper back format. and all the 20 authors who pit in their time in this collaboration.
For all the details and link to the book find this article below:
We will definitely come back with more on this book in some time.
A special mention for Leonard Tillerman for all the support and a wonderful review he did for our book, which you can read in his words here:
Hall of Fame Moment:
I found my poetry finding its moment when I was kindly invited to participate in Paper Poetry — Poetry Series , where I wrote four poems on “Yeoubi”, Korean for “ Sun shining through rain”, and found myself listed in their Hall of Fame poets.
Details of which is found in this articles provided below:
Thanking Indubala Kachhawa Carolyn Hastings
Poetic Collaboration and Friendship:
One of the high points for this platform is collaboration and community support and this year roundup will be incomplete without mentioning my friend and poet Denise Darby.
We got talking through a poetry tag that bloomed into a mutually shared camaraderie and respect, through some open letter sharing. This is a story which has only started this year , but I know will continue for years to come….
The whole correspondence is beautifully compiled by Denise in one of her articles she wrote 🙏
Moving Forward 2023:
I am currently working on hosting my own website, which is likely to go “live” on the first week of January 2023.
I will keep you posted as and when I progress with it , which will house my poetry, art, photography and regular blogs which I have named Nefelibata@m — the cloud walker 😊.
Sharing the first look here.Do let me know what you think about it :
So Here I am with Music on my Knees:
It is only of late, that I commenced on my emotional journey, leading to a more spiritual one, slowly unfurling and moving deep in understanding the real me.
I know it will take some time if not the whole time trying to understand who I am.
So pardon me, if I am totally incapable of writing an ‘About Me’ in a way you all can.
I have tried to create this year in perspective which gives a glimpse of who I am becoming and will try to elaborate on my journey from now on through my poems and essays, as and when I find myself.
In this whole thread I have to admit writing, reading, conversing and collaborating along side you all has helped me become who I have become in this one year.
All this continuity in writing, ideating, designing and thinking would not be possible if there was no constant support, inspiration and encouragement , which brings me to the reason I sat down to write this article: to show my gratitude to you all.
The list has to start with the editors I encountered early in the days who instilled in me the faith that ‘I can’ :
Emma Fradgley: Wordsmith Library — For finding me !
Denise Larkin: The Lark — For accepting my initial writings :)
Thomas Plummer, Francine Fallara: Blue Insight — For letting me know I was doing well…
Franco Amati :Scuzzbucket — I gathered a few of my favourite poems are parked there, thank you for accepting :)
Somsubhra Banerjee, Priyanka Srivastava :Literary Impulse — For everything we share!
Trista Signe Ainsworth, Amanda Laughtland, Sharing Randomly: Thank you Notes — For all the beautiful exchanges we had :)
Ravyne Hawke: Promptly Written — For being a wonderfully encouraging editor !
Carolyn Hastings, Indubala Kachhawa, Suntonu Bhadra: Paper Poetry — For constant insight and inspiration :)
Regina Clarke: So, Friends why do you write — For creating a space for meaningful interviews with authors :)
Dr. Preeti Singh, Yana Bostongirl Sahil Patel :Reciprocal, Lifeline — For making me feel at home!
Dr. Gabriella Korosi, Dr. Preeti Singh, Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles Sharing Randomly: Dancing Elephant Press — For such wonderful collaborations!
You always light up my way: David Rudder William J Spirdione Patrick M. Ohana John O'Neill Harry Stefanakis Thief Joe Merkle Dr. Fatima Imam Susannah MacKinnie Suma Narayan Hayden Moore Leonard Tillerman Joseph Lieungh Jenine "Jeni" Bsharah Baines Margie Willis Randall Snyder Pseu Pending (Seu) Ilis Trudie Palmer Benighted Connie Song Shameem Anwar Benighted Neera Handa Dr Sally A Mortemore Hermione Wilds Writes Sharing Words Patrick OConnell Jesse Wilson Jessey Anthony Breathe & Be Still Raine Lore Carmellita B.R. Shenoy Kimberly Hampton Nilsson Selma B.R. Shenoy
And to my old buddies A.H. Mehr Ali Sujona Chatterjee VOICES OF THE LOST— miss you guys….
A note of thanks to David Perlmutter and Diana Meresc for what you do for this platform!
I apologise for missing anyone, it is purely unintentional.
Writing a gratitude note is always a special feeling as it makes me feel wrapped with your love and warmth.
It feels good to be a part of this lively, interactive, supportive community.
which takes me to the Art I decided to share today
Painting: The Method in Chaos — Community/Team or Us, Knife and Acrylic on Cold Pressed Canvas
It’s a Ciao from Soul Bay.
Wishing everyone a glorious year (2023) ahead.
May all your wishes and dreams come true!
Love always,
Monoreena
Thought of leaving you with a soulful take on hit’n misses which are part of every year we pass with some light and groovy music.
So it’s Memories from Maroons 5:
Have a wonderful end to this year, hope to see you bigger and better in the next!
