Pay It Forward

A Novel Idea for Building Community

Think of someone else before yourself

A collaborative post with Andrew Rodwin.

MuddyUm is more than the sum of its parts.

We do publish some seriously funny stuff on MuddyUm. Like articles on weird oxymorons such as “seriously funny.”

We’re also a community.

As in any community, we’ve got people whose lives are all pastels and sunshine and rainbows. And others trudging through gloomy patches that are rough and scary.

Next month, maybe it’s suddenly overcast for the people who were on cruise control. And the people who were struggling? There’s sunlight at the end of the tunnel. Life is ups and downs, right?

When we see one of our own hitting a rough patch, we lend a hand. Because we know that person would help us in a New York second. And probably already has before. And definitely will again. That’s what communities do.

Which is why we did a fundraiser awhile back for one of our top writers, Sarah Paris. Thanks to our generous community members, we beat our goal! Thank you so much for pulling together! And BTW, that fundraiser is still live and ongoing. It has become an ongoing MuddyUm Editors’ Emergency Fund. Because editors do so much for the community, out of the sheer goodness of their hearts. And the promise of laughter in a caring community.

We have another ask.

This time, we’re not asking for money. We’re asking for something way more valuable. We’re asking for your time.

How much time? Just five minutes per day, from now until Christmas.

Sounds ok, right? You’ve got five minutes. It gets better.

During that daily five minutes, all you have to do is read one Medium article by Sarah Paris. Some days it may be nine minutes. Some days, three. Doesn’t matter. Just read one Medium article by Sarah Paris, from beginning to end.

Sarah is a stellar writer. So this is a weird ask, right? It’s like someone’s asking you to eat a hunk of Godiva chocolate every day. Or get a back massage. Your Spidey sense is triggered. Must be a catch, right?

Nope. No catch. That’s the ask. Read one of Sarah’s Medium articles from beginning to end, every day from now until Christmas. If you also want to clap, highlight, or reply to the article you choose, bonus points. Schedule it on your calendar. Share her story link with friends!

Sarah’s got some brilliant stuff on MuddyUm, so you could start there. But Sarah also writes for other Medium publications. Just go to Sarah’s page every day from now until Christmas, and pick whatever tempts you.

If you’re up for helping out one of our own, someone who has given so much to our MuddyUm community, we’d love for you to “sign up” by replying to this post.

And thanks.

Love, Andrew

If you are reading this far, that means you are one of those people who spends a lot of time on Medium. You likely are well versed in writing listicles, How-to’s and whys and wherefores, all in the attempt to build audience and have them read your stuff. What do you think might happen to one person’s Medium income if all of a sudden, there was this big shift from “Look at Me,” to “Look at Her!”

We hear the words all day, every day. Build your brand. Build your audience. Here’s how to build your next million dollars. I’d like to propose that for the next 60 days or so, we conduct this experiment. I’d like to thank Andrew for having such a brilliant idea. Building community is one of my best skills. I love doing this work. Otherwise, I wouldn’t do it at all.

Pay it forward. It always pays us back when we do, in ways we cannot even yet see or imagine.

AND — plan to come join our MuddyUm Zoom-a-Thon on November 14th at Noon Eastern, in which the editors and special guests will, with shame free abandon, do funny things on camera, to thank you for your continuing generosity. Watch MuddyUm posts for more info on that.

Thank you thank you thank you, for being a part of the MuddyUm community. It’s the BEST part of the Medium experience.

In case you missed it, the fundraiser is still live and supporting this great group of volunteer editors, but especially, at this moment, Sarah Paris.

With kind respect and thanks — Cap’n Susan Brearley