In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Atwood Magazine has invited artists to participate in a series of essays reflecting on identity, music, culture, inclusion, and more.
•• •• •• ••
Today, accountant-turned-singer/songwriter Miist shares a special essay about the global loneliness epidemic, the heartbreaking story that inspired her to write “Could You Lend Me a Smile,” and her mission to spark human connection through music, empathy, and 15 seconds of intentional kindness, for Atwood Magazine’s Mental Health Awareness Month series!
Abandoned at five years old and surviving a terminal cancer diagnosis by 28, Miist defied the odds when she discovered her musical gift at 34 and last year, became the 1st native Chinese artist to break into Billboard’s Top 25 AC chart, collaborating with legends like Santana and Curtis Williams (Kool & The Gang) as well as Top 10 All Time Producer Narada Michael Walden.
Miist is a multilingual recording artist who began her professional music career at age 34 after discovering her gift for songwriting and performance. In 2023, she was discovered by Narada Michael Walden, one of Billboard’s Top 10 Producers of All Time. She began releasing commercial music in March 2024 and quickly made history. That year, she charted twice on Billboard’s Pop/AC chart (#21 and #26), earned the number one Indie AC song in the U.S., and reached number 11 on the Indie Top 40. She also became the first Chinese artist ever to land a Top 25 Billboard Pop/AC hit. A prolific and versatile artist, Miist has written over 80 original songs in English, Mandarin, and Spanish. Within three months of her debut, she became a voting member of the Recording Academy.
Behind her music is a powerful personal story. Abandoned at age 5 and a terminal cancer survivor at 28, she now serves as an ambassador for Teen Cancer America, using her platform to inspire and uplift. Miist is the visionary behind the Smile Project, a global musical collaboration centered around the single “Could You Lend Me a Smile.” The project includes over 60 Grammy winners and nominees, 15 languages, 15 music videos, 14 performing artists, five Grammy-winning producers, and the UK Breakthrough Producer of the Year. It spans five continents and reflects a mission of unity, empathy, and creativity. She also hosts the podcast Make Me Smile with Miist, available in over 150 countries across all major platforms. The show blends original music, TED-style insights, and candid conversations about resilience, creativity, and transformation.
Miist recently released “Could You Lend Me a Smile,” a new global anthem and music video featuring artists with 60 Grammy awards and nominations in 15 languages across five continents – including a moving spoken word and ASL version ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 15 and National Smile Day on May 31, during AAPI Heritage and Mental Health Awareness Month.
Read Miist’s special essay below, and find “Could You Lend Me a Smile” wherever you stream music!
•• ••
COULD YOU LEND ME A SMILE?
Changing the World in 15 Seconds
by Miist
A few months ago, I read a story about a 20-year-old Japanese man who was found passed away in his apartment.
He had been there for months until neighbors found him. He died from what is now called “lonely death,” which is a phenomenon surging in Asia and throughout the world. The USA has not been immune, as the Surgeon General has stated that nearly 50% of adults and young adults feel lonely (ABC News).
I was so moved by this story that a song poured out of me: “Could You Lend Me a Smile,” which has just been released in 15 languages on 5 continents with the help of artists with over 60 Grammy awards and nominations. The song has become a global anthem to change the way we look at each other. It is meant to influence the way we live our day-to-day lives by simply starting to smile again; smile at ourselves, our family, our neighbors, and strangers. Can you imagine a world where everyone smiled at each other? That is what I imagined when I wrote that song. We don’t know what people are going through in their lives, but I know that most of us feel so overwhelmed with the big problems in today’s world that we just keep our heads down and hope that things get better. I wanted to create a movement that did not overwhelm people: calls to action that were so simple and so basic, yet so powerful that they could change the world around us. Along with my family, I decided that 15 seconds a day was enough time to achieve this. 15 seconds. Not 15 days or hours or minutes. 15 seconds can change your world.
Nearly every person in the world can give 15 seconds a day. And small, powerful and healing actions like smiling, saying thank you, feeling gratitude, kindness, and reminding someone that you love them all take less than 15 seconds, but have a huge impact on ourselves and the people around us. There are over 48 of these small actions mentioned in my weekly Make Me Smile with Miist (#13 on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube podcast charts in Mental Health) podcast. Make Me Smile with Miist is meant to be like a TED-like talk, providing insights, storytelling, original music, and challenges to change our world. The topics range from day dreaming, why we love, remembrance, the joy of dance, and fear.
“Could You Lend Me a Smile” and my podcast, Make Me Smile with Miist, along with my Kindness Kube™, are part of my World Smile Initiative (WSI), which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. WSI has no administrative costs or salaries, and its purpose is to encourage people to smile again. We can do that by changing the way we think and act in small ways that affect ourselves and others immediately.
“Could You Lend Me a Smile” is the first of six important songs I’m releasing later this summer. I love to wrap difficult subjects in beautiful music.
“Looking For a Thread” is an emo-anthem about depression and hope, produced by the multi-Grammy producer Kitt Wakeley.
“Falling Out of Us” is an acknowledgment that in this crazy world, we often forget to put in the time and effort to keep those we love close to us.
“I Think I Lost a Day” is an ode to that feeling when you know you literally missed a day of the week and everything feels just a little bit off. That song is being produced by the UK Breakthrough Producer of the Year, Tayte Nickols.
Even though I discovered my musical ability at 34 years old (before that I was an accountant) I have been fortunate to work with some of the greatest artists of all time like Narada Michael Walden, Carlos Santana, Curtis Williams (Kool & the Gang), and modern masters like Tony & Mimy Succar, Kitt Wakeley, Tayte Nickols. What they have taught me is that being abandoned at 5 by my parents and surviving a terminal cancer diagnosis at 28 has provided me with perspective and lots of stories to tell. But I want to tell stories with meaning that affect and heal people. I am supported by so many people who believe in me and my music that I find it overwhelming, especially since I fight with ‘impostor syndrome’ almost daily.
At my essence, I want to help people learn how to be human again – something that it seems we have forgotten how to do. Thank you for reading, and please remember to smile today! – Miist
•• ••
:: connect with Miist here ::
•• •• •• ••
Connect to Miist on
Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook
Discover new music on Atwood Magazine
📸 © Andrew Ficke
Stream Miist
