8 Illumination Must Reads
If you missed these stories, here is your second chance to be Illuminated with some wise, entertaining and thought-provoking pieces about our lives and our world
I love reading everyone’s work on ILLUMINATION, but having a wealth of stories means that I sometimes miss a lot of them. I have seen others highlight ILLUMINATION writers who deserve a spotlight and enjoyed discovering new peoples’ work. It is always nice to get a digest of some great stories that you should take some time to read.
I’ve selected writers who are new to me. That doesn’t mean that they are new writers. All of them have written words in such a way that they have moved me to add them to this story list for your enjoyment. In fact, I learned many things and gain new insights by enjoying their articles.
Alamiin S.I reminds us to really listen to people. It is the trait that distinguishes people who write well and are excellent conversationalists. Read “What Great Writers and Conversationalists Have in Common” to learn how you can improve your listening and writing skills.
Mukundarajan V N writes America is at an inflection point, but wonders if there will be enough momentum to continue changes in America’s structural systems into the future.
Sean Valjean says Trump is the evangelical’s “Wolf King” and that while most people watched in shock and horror at his authoritarian display when he trampled over peaceful protesters’ First Amendment rights to hold a Bible upside down for a photo opportunity in front of a church whose priest was removed by security forces, evangelical voters really enjoyed the show.
Nancy Ann writes a poem about grief. Go read it. It is powerful.
Kayo Zaduban writes a poem about protest. He reminds us you must do more than just protest. You need to make the changes happen.
Akshay Ravi tells us how donuts (I’m team “donut”) came to be ubiquitous. Every morning when people are heading to work, there is always a traffic jam in front of my local doughnut store. I always love reading how common things came to be so common. It is easy to forget the origin stories of things that make us happy.
H. N. Uhlig tackles domestic violence in her poem “Leave Before He Hits Her.” We must work on ending violence where ever it happens in our society — whether at home or out in the community. H. N. Uhlig reminds us of the importance of working towards this peace.
Mallika Vasak explains the importance of studying classical literature and tells us why “To Kill A Mockingbird” is as important a book today as it was when it was first written. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery are our modern day Mockingbirds —beautiful humans killed for no reason.
I enjoy the wealth of writing that Illuminators produce daily. I love reading, so it is always nice to have an almost unlimited supply of great works to entertain and enlighten me. Thanks to all of the authors above for their contributions and for all of the readers who enjoy all of our great content.
I have a not-so-secret way of keeping up with everything. I have set up a plain text feed of ILLUMINATION stories so I can see what is new when I’ve been away from the computer for a while.
I have it set up to keep the last 10,000 ILLUMINATION stories — we haven’t reached that number yet, but I have a feeling I might have to expand the archive to hold links to 100,000 or maybe a million stories in the future.
Feel free to check it out. I love seeing artwork and photographs, but sometimes it is nice to just see a list of plain text headlines to give me an overview of what is on the ILLUMINATION menu.
Chris Hedges, J.D., is a photographer and writer. I am an editor at ILLUMINATION, The Bad Influence, and Red Curtain Erotica. You can learn more about me at x29.co.
