Meet Kwamise Fletcher

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

Kwamise, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

Well it is a continual process of love, acceptance & appreciation for myself & all of my developing iterations. In order to gain & maintain my confidence & self-esteem, I am intentional about nurturing the bond between my mind, body & soul. Confidence is not something at least for me, that is linear or a finite destination. There are days where I have all of the confidence in the world as well as days where I am self-conscious of the littlest things. The goal with self confidence is to accept it in all of its forms. I never try and stay in a place of self doubt & negativity for long. I honor & validate my feelings about myself in that moment, give them the space they need & then MOVE ON! If I see something about myself that
I don’t like, I am honest about what steps are needed to change it, but I LOVE ME THROUGH IT ALL! Poetry has definitely helped with working through my feelings in regards to myself. Anytime I am navigating tricky emotions of self doubt, I put it in a poem. I use that energy to feed my pen & work through that self deprecating energy. Developing confidence & self-esteem is more about learning to ride the waves of your emotions, instead of being hell bent about the final destination. I try not to compare myself to others & instead focus inward on maintaining a positive relationship between mind, body & spirit.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am a poet & a spoken word artist. I use words to heal, first myself & then others through the stories I tell. My poetry is my battle cry for my ancestors. My voice is the voice of the generations before me who maybe didn’t get to or know how to speak their truths. I seek to heal our communities, our culture by de-stigmatizing some of the struggles we have faced silently & behind closed doors due to shame, embarrassment & heck even pride. I get to use my God given talents of being a wordsmith & be in spaces to ensure our voices are heard. Be in rooms with folks who may have opinions shaped by misconceptions & societal stereotypes & show them something different or even reaffirm my people’s beauty through my oratory skills. I facilitate workshops to show our youth the power of the tongue & open their eyes to a world of endless possibilities through storytelling & poetry. My poetry is raw & real. I share my most authentic self to help build community. By telling my truths in an artistic way, I hope that others can relate, maybe feel less alone. While my stories will always be from the lens of a black woman since that is my lived experience, my hope is that MY story will be relatable for folks even if they don’t look like me. It
is amazing to me to be able to travel throughout the country, share my poetry, meet amazing human beings & get paid for it as the cherry on top. When you hear others share their art, you realize how much more similar we all are with one another. You can follow me on all social media platforms at: ladykpoetry to keep up with EVERYTHING I have going on because trust me, it’s a WILD, EXCITING ride to be on & I would love for you to join me!

My sincere hope is that my love of words & wordplay will move you, resonate within you in some way, inspire you or just open you up to the possibilities within yourself. We all become much less divisive towards one another when we build community amongst eachother. Or atleast that’s the goal…

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Drive, authenticity & a huge amount of humility. For me it was about finally getting out of my own way and allowing divine purpose to guide me. Trust your gut. I am a spiritual person so I definitely walk in that space continually. Don’t let anyone else dictate your journey, be intentional with mapping out your own trajectory. Don’t be afraid to stumble & be open to critique & criticism. Be a forever student & learner of the art form. Immerse yourself in these beautiful communities & plant roots, let them feed your soul. Continously push your pen & learn about how to more effectively communicate your words. Let your personality permeate every space you enter & leave a lasting impression. Make yourself unforgettable in a positive way. If you decide you want to perform your poetry, leave EVERYTHING on every stage & mic you step to. Be bold & beautiful in whatever way that looks for you. Command the microphone you step to & MAKE THEM LISTEN. Always know you have something worth value to say. Be present in the moments you share space within these communities & try to create genuine connections & maintain those relationships. Network, be your own biggest cheerleader & go after EVERYTHING you want to get out of this beautiful art form.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

Take a breath, step away from it; even if it’s only for a moment. You need to be very self aware so you can more easily identify when you are overwhelmed so it doesn’t get to a destructive or incapacitated level. Learn to say no & do the internal work to be able to more readily identify your triggers. Establish boundaries. Give yourself the grace to navigate through difficult emotions & being ok with not always getting it right. Life will throw you curveballs all the time, you just have to roll with it. Don’t panic in times of being overwhelmed. Develop a toolkit of things that bring you joy & peace to help mitigate those awkward times. Constantly check in with yourself & your feelings. Know that sometimes you WILL BE overwhelmed & that it is OK to feel that way. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Surround yourself with people & things that nurture & support you & want the best for you. Have a tribe that you can lean on & be vulnerable enough with them to ask for help when you need it. And lastly, never be embarrassed to say you are feeling overwhelmed, even if the person you need to say it to the most is YOURSELF!!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Jessie Marie Photography
TheFive5Nine
Royal Photography

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