Meet Selma Martin

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Selma Martin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Selma, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
NUMBER 1
7- Where does your optimism come from?

This will sound to some as cliche, but at the end of the day, when I check to see that the knob on my analog alarm clock is set to ON, I say thanks to the old-fashioned thing and then, “See you in the morning.”

In the morning, upon hearing the clock’s muffled ring (muffled because I’ve wrapped a few rubber bands on the bell portion; the original infallible vibration of the artifact eventually came to sound too urgent for slow rising), I say thanks to it again and this time tell it, “It’s gonna be another fantastic day!” I’m an optimist, you see, and you will always find me whispering to inanimate objects too.

I’ve just outlined for you how I end and start my day, fully aware that this doesn’t answer your initial question but trust me when I tell you that putting gratitude at the top of your list will open you up to a mindset that’s shunned by many today. So, in my eccentric way and with as few words as possible, I want to tell you about optimism as I understand it.

When American poet Emily Dickinson wrote the poem “Hope” and referred to it as a feathered thing that perches in the soul of humans, I’m sure her message bloomed from optimism–a fleeting capacity that humans cultivate and rely on in times of need.

And that the poet likened this human trait to a bird is appropriate–It describes the fleeting nature of hope, which is personified as a bird: a bird sings regardless of its circumstances because that is what birds do. Optimism is hope, simple as that.

It’s the hope one has when one sets an alarm clock before retiring for the night. Hope that the clock will do what it’s supposed to do but more importantly that you will wake up to turn it off and get to live through another day—simple as that. That’s what optimism is.

Where does it come from? From my innate human capacity to believe. To believe that things just don’t magically happen–I need to set the stage, employ the mindset or fertile ground if you will, for it to take root. All humans have the capacity for this. And endowed with such capacity the only prerequisite would be to be willing to interpret “the why” to satisfy a positive anticipated result. It’s a practice, a hack as the term goes, but optimism is that bird that changes subjective reality and affects your objective reality.

First, you change your subjective reality; that’s the only one you have control over. Subjective reality is the world in here: the world of the mind, of emotions, and feelings. It’s composed of one’s own thoughts, opinions and judgments, and emotions. Working from your inner world changes how you see the world out there. So if you want to tap into an optimistic mindset, nourish the little feathered thing, and with a heart full of gratitude, let the little bird fly.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
NUMBER 3

Alex, as of today, the first week of September, I’m fresh out of finally publishing my debut collection of nature poetry. In The Shadow of Rainbows– A Collection of Songs of Presence by me, Selma Martin, published by Experiments in Fiction–launched to the great merriment of applause from a bunch of lovely people with big hearts. These lovely people are WordPress bloggers and readers, and my small newsletter audience that allows my letters to land in their private email inboxes once a month. I call them my pen pals. Thanks to these lovely individuals In The Shadow of Rainbows ranked on Amazon at #1 in two categories, and I cannot tell you how elated this makes me for this little book of over sixty poems.

In my ‘notes’ section in the book I share:

The events that left imprints on me happened in my
head and helped me to live “a reality that was felt.”

As a child, I was often reprimanded for doing “bad” acts,
which always started with good intentions. The reprimands
were more exasperated pleas from Mother to eat
my share of whatever I shared with others, who I always
felt, needed that thing more than me.

An altruistic child, a spectator who realized that when
she employed her heart and mind, she was larger than
the limits of her petite frame. Mind tended to point to
the variegated realities of people, and Heart ordered
Mind to form good realities for them.

I knew this was my agency as a thinking presence, and
how I still see life unfurl.

After every reprimand, I cried real tears, not from the
scolding but the teasing my siblings took upon themselves
to dish out.

I’d cry from that! But always, through wet eyelashes and
learning to stand under the sun just so, I marveled at the
rainbows that settled on my watery eyes.
And I cried often. Hearing of people’s hardships brought
out tears, literally and figuratively, I saw rainbows. Always.

This poetry collection started with me scribbling words
that came, and accumulating them on paper for publishing
one day. I did not start with a theme, but trusted a
theme would emerge.

As you read, you’ll find many poems about shadows, and
so, as I filled the pages of my notebook, I also scribbled
down titles about shadows. But then something happened—
a happy, joyous thing, and I cried. Wouldn’t
you know it? The sun shone slant on me, and I recalled
something I had almost forgotten about— rainbows!

From seeing rainbows on eyelashes came In The Shadow
of Rainbows. I hope you like my debut poetry collection and
that your poem finds you.” — In The Shadow of Rainbows:
A Collection of Songs of Presence by Selma Martin

SHARING ONE POEM FROM THE COLLECTION

Lux of Human Wisdom

In my meager calculations, somewhere southeast of
that swift-moving cloud and the sound of waves
slapping, I lost something of great value.

And somewhere between there and the bleached moon
I found it but lost it again:

Paused at the door of the Universe’s lost and found—
a stretch of words, of short hymns and mist trails
swerving skyward—I glanced around at feeble
present progressive faces like mine

And Universe, without cosmic remorse
continued on its constant course.
…
Southeast of a westerly gliding cloud, somewhere in
the sub-stratosphere, I come upon a puddle of water.
In its midst a blue hyacinth lays—I pick up the flower
of rain, inhale deeply its sweet licorice balsamic scent,
and, humbled, regard long my reflection in the puddle.

In a trice, my soul recalibrates me.
Through wet lashes, I see myself and flower:
I sneeze into a rainbow, and I find me!

© selma

Born from a place where I and another soul’s echo communed for a moment, these poems opened me up to see more than what was before me. So, I’m confident that one poem in this book will take your hand, reunite you with your echo, and take you home —found and richer with you-ness for having been seen. That’s what I want one poem to do for you: I’m happy to be the conduit for you.

I dedicate my debut poetry collection to all my readers, who, from now on are part of a new thread in my story. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
NUMBER 4

Give more than you receive. In other words, give without expecting.
Plant seeds of generosity everywhere and one day the blessings will
sprout for you.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
NUMBER 5

3- Are you looking for folks to partner or collaborate with? If so, describe the sorts of folks
you are looking to collaborate with and how they can connect with you if they are reading
this and want to collaborate.

To collaborate with like-minded optimists would be a dream come true. People whose vision of a kind world is expressed through the arts and kind literature. An inclusive collaboration that sees beyond the color of skin, gender, and religious orientation–I would love to collaborate with such individuals.
I am open to partnering with anyone for whom the noun ‘race’ means one thing: the human race. And that person can reach out to me at the email listed in Section 6 below.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
All photos provided by Author attributed to Selma Martin.

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