REVIEWING THE BEST OF STORIES
Answering the Challenge to Stretch and Grow
Reviewing Aurora’s Self-Selected Top 10 Articles
She starts with a bang!
That’s the same lesson I have learned both in public speaking and writing. Your opening statement is the most important one.
Here are my top ten soul-sustaining and enlivening stories brimming with hope and healing. And like a rich balm for the soul, I hope that these articles inspire and bring you peace.
Wow!
What are you talking about, Rasheed?
I am glad you asked.
About ten days ago, Dr. Mehmet Yildiz challenged the writers on ILLUMINATION to write a story that curates 5 to 10 of our own stories that we like and the reasons we like them.
Then he turned around and challenged us to review someone else’s “story of stories” to share what value we received from it. While I am still struggling to put together mine, many other writers have compiled theirs.
Here, I am reviewing Aurora Eliam, CMP’s self-selected Top ten.
Let’s get right to it, then.
You can tell she knows how to capture attention. She can do that because she spent over ten years writing news and PR crap. She knows her craft.
While the craft paid her well, she says it was soul-sucking. It’s a familiar story of people selling their souls to Capitalism.
However, she found her calling when she combined her craft with the art of creating from the heart. She started writing soul-sustaining and enlivening stories.
I have found that the articles that seem to garner the best response are the ones I wrote quickly, with an eye toward authenticity, interconnectedness, and the love that surrounds us all.
1. In The Definitive Guide to Forgiveness, she gives us a five-step process on how to forgive. (I can’t tell you those five steps, you’ll have to read them yourself).
She says, “When we embrace the lesson that forgiveness has for us, we also embrace peace, hope, gratitude, and love.”
Yes!
2. In Are You Resisting your Life, she says that the antidote to resistance is acceptance, and gives us a four-step process to go from resistance to acceptance. (Again, you’ll have to find out for yourself).
Here is the gem: “Accept reality for what it is, because only then can we begin to open our minds and shift undesirable situations to more luminous possibilities.”
An aside: Overload of puppy cuteness here. :-)
3. In The Essential Art of Releasing Fear, she tells us that no one knows your inner-state better than you do. This knowledge allows us to get to know what we fear most.
So what is the solution? (Do I really have to repeat myself?)
Here is the takeaway: “The relinquishment of fear requires that we notice patterns that provoke anxiety or bothersome thoughts that spiral into fear-based habits and behaviors.”
4. In The 3 Most Important Questions to Ask Yourself Every Day, she tells us, “When I was sixteen years old, I died. And although I was quickly resuscitated, the accident had profound impacts on my life.”
As a result, she asks herself these three questions every day. What are they? (Yeah, right).
The bottom line: “You don’t need to have a near-death experience to realize that life is an amazing journey in which we are all here to make a difference and support one another.”
5. In 10 Timeless Pieces of Wisdom for the Modern World, she tells us, “Of course, these won’t apply to every person, but I hope that they might benefit your own life, or compel you to contemplate your own journey and sense of meaning.”
You want me to tell you what they are? Are you kidding me? (Hint: The first one is in the subtitle).
The essence: “Just like it takes time for a chrysalis to produce a beautiful butterfly, we cannot skip over our own journey to formation, because that’s where the alchemy of purpose unfolds into our own serendipitous story.”
6. In 20 Life Lessons Learned From One Hour of Silence, she discovered that “silence was my friend and teacher.” (and leaves us bread crumbs).
You should know by now that I am not telling you those 20 things. (Find out for yourself).
Ultimate lesson: “Silence has taught me a deeper truth than words ever could. Sit in silence once a week and feel the truth in your heart. It’s always there, whether or not you express it in words.”
7. From 8 Books That Will Change Your Life: “Have you ever read what felt like a supremely brilliant book, one that stays with you, influences your life for the better, and broadens your perspective? The books listed below were such books for me.’
Here is the list of the eight books. (Just Kidding).
The outcome: “The ideas in these books allowed me to see myself and the world the way it is. And they helped me become a more knowledgeable, confident, open-minded, and interesting person.”
8. I Followed My Rescued Pit Bull Around to Document His Day is the diary of a rescued dog — a pit bull. Whodathunkit?
She lists 12 reasons to rescue pit bulls and five ways you can help. (You know the routine by now).
I didn’t know this, did you? “Helen Keller’s dog, “Sir Thomas,” was a pit bull, and so was Petey, the canine mascot of the Little Rascals. Clearly they have become a very misunderstood breed.”
9. In How Complete Immersion in Nature has Healing Power, she writes, “I feel the most alive when I’m outside, so I decided to test the restorative benefits of nature for eight continuous hours. It’s relatively easy to work out on the porch.”
It’s a diary of an exhausted mama, with four lessons learned at the end of the day. (Come on, it’s only four).
Words of wisdom: “It’s important to point out that nature is not just wilderness; the benefits of nature can also be found in our local parks and open spaces. So get outside and answer the primal call that binds us with everything else in the universe, allowing our souls to rejoin the original state of our existence.”
10. In The Essential Art of Choice, she asks, “Does making one choice over another, whether minute or substantial, have a direct influence on our personhood?”
She saved the best for the last. It’s a powerhouse of wisdom that comes from having lived a purposeful life, being challenged by each day, every day. No list in this one. (Sigh).
Diamond in the rough: “Choice is neither wrong nor right; it simply is a decision, of which there are many in the sequential chronicle of life.”
This collection of 10 stories by Aurora is Di-no-myte. They are inspirational and spiritual stories. I also noticed that (shameless self-promo coming) she is an expert at using the Winning Trifecta of Writing on Medium.
She has click-worthy headlines, descriptive subtitles, and eye-catching featured images in all her stories. It must be her years of training as a news and PR writer. We can all learn a thing or three from studying her craft.
It has been my pleasure to review Aurora’s top ten stories — some of which I had read before, but others I saw for the first time. I am a richer man for having read them.
Dr. Mehmet Yildiz had a brilliant idea when he issued the challenge for us to write a story highlighting our best stories and then reviewing the stories of other writers. I am still working on putting together my best stories, and I’ll urge everyone to do the same.
If you haven’t reviewed someone else’s best stories, I challenge you to do that, too. A few days ago, I reviewed Michele’s story, which was my first attempt at being a critic.
As always, thank you for reading and responding.
Here are a couple of related stories:
Rasheed Hooda is a published author and a regular contributor to ILLUMINATION, a writers’ community on Medium where writers support each other.
He is a self-proclaimed weirdo who lives a Freedom Lifestyle and writes about related topics — Travel (a top writer), Personal Growth, Freedom, and entrepreneurship. (Get the Newsletter)
More about me:
An interview by Dr. M Yildiz for ILLUMINATION
Testimonial by other writers.
