GRATITUDE
An Open Letter to a Man Named “Tim”
Mr. Denning Tim Denning, thank you
Tim, I promise not to make a habit of this — “this” being what might seem like my using your name to garner attention. What happened is that I innocently wrote a piece after reading your article on emerging technologies that writers on Medium should factor into their plan.
I am 64 years old so factoring technology into my plan is not a slam-dunk. Maybe not even a dunk (pardon the reference, but I do have March Madness on my mind after watching last night’s final). I took your words on technology seriously. I almost always do, and you and I both know that “almost” is as good as it gets for people who write (please note that I don’t call myself a “writer” because I reserve that title for great ones like Steinbeck or Hemingway or living authors like Strout).
But for whatever reason, the piece I wrote where I cited your insights received far more attention than pieces I was more invested in (this includes my fictional series on Alfred and Hannah that has made me a “Johnny one-note” to my family). The piece where your words are the focus has eclipsed far more weighty topics like:
- How do we assist an aging sibling on the decline while still ensuring their dignity and space
- How The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn speaks to me differently today
- Why we should love our rejection slips (just like Sylvia Plath did, whose quote I borrowed)
- Three female scientists who have changed our world for the better, and yet almost no one knows about them
- How to be our best solopreneur CEO — one small step at a time (because business is something I’ve spent almost 40 years doing)
I even tried to take the shine off of you by writing a companion piece on how I am different than Joe Schmoe — an imaginative name that loosely translates to “your average guy.” That piece did get read but by not nearly as many people as who read about you, and yet I find those words at least as interesting and insightful.
So the envelope, please… You win. This also means that I won.
But mostly it has me curious. Why was the piece referencing you so much more appreciated and popular? What does it say about us as a Medium community? What does it say about the likelihood that a fictional series I will launch in 2022 has any chance if I don’t use your name in the title?
The good news is that I won’t. The titles are set with “Alfred’s Journey to Be Liked” and “Hannah’s Journey to Be Happy” not having one word of your name in it.
As a matter of fact, this will be my last piece that references you. I needed to say thank you Tim Denning Tim Denning before exiting the “Tim Denning” topic.
Thank you for writing and providing us insights. Thank you for being the reason my first piece on Medium became my most read piece on Medium (I only kind of thank you for that because I have other pieces that I treasure more).
In the way that I hope my writing changes me and maybe helps others who read me in some small incremental way, for the better, of course, your piece on technology has resulted in me working on a new website about me (I actually hate talking about me, but then there is the world we function in). From that website, I intend to do a simple hopscotch to substack.
So thank you, and be well, and please continue to write.