Writer Focus

Confronting Your Micro-Fears and Running for Slushies

New writer spotlight and update on June writing challenges

Today we lean hard into running, with a couple of articles on the topic, however both bring some perspective on other concepts as well. We also have some adorable dog pictures and find a new way to think about fear; and, all of this is from writers new to the Illumination Publication.

Each day in June I will feature a few articles from writers that have just recently been added to the publication. I am doing this because I want to make a point of welcoming and getting acquainted with the new writers, and doing a feature allows me to read some of their work and pick items that catch my eye each day.

I am hoping that by highlighting one of their articles they will get a few extra eyes on their writing and perhaps gain a few fans that otherwise might not have seen their work. If these new-to-Illumination writers don’t have bios yet, we hope they write one soon so we can add it to our growing list:

But until then, my aim is to choose a handful of writers from the ranks of the newly added and highlight one of their articles. Then I will have an ask of them afterward (Hint: I will ask that they pay it forward by doing the same thing for other writers).

Also, in this series I would like to keep a running (Ha! Today that is a pun, but it wasn’t yesterday.) list of any writing challenges going on in and around Illumination. That list will follow the feature articles below.

So, without further ado:

New Writer Spotlight

Our first article today comes from Helen Kean Redpath and explores the relationships she solidified by running ultra-marathon length races with her friends while in postgraduate studies at university.

Her story is really less about running than about how engaging in the sport taught her that, “big strides often seem to happen in public, but the real joys are in the everyday process.”

She relates how she has stayed in touch with her friends as they all moved on to other endeavors, and that running remains their common denominator. Check out her story here:

Keeping on the running theme, Anna Martinez shares why she keeps running the hills around her home, even though they suck! This piece is running centric; however, it doesn’t take much imagination to make the allegorical jump to how hills are all around us in life, and that tackling them head on, rather than avoiding them, makes us stronger and more resilient.

Turn your legs to rubber and set fire to your lungs along with Anna as she takes you up and down some hills:

The next story is from Rafael Eliassen and explores how the majority of our fears are learned, and that most of our big fears are made up of smaller, micro-fears.

Rafael provides some great perspective on how little fears might be holding us back more than the big ones, and how to deal with our micro-fears here:

And finally, if you know me at all, you know I am a sucker for dog stories. I mean, cat stories are also compelling but give me a story with dogs — especially if there are pictures — and I am hooked!

And you will be too, because Vanshika Dhyani has provided us with a dog feature that includes a delightful list of names for your pup or kitty, along with 11 (yes, I said 11!) dog photos! What is not to love about this?

Let’s Make a Connection

Next I want to broker an introduction of the new writers tagged in this article and one of our editors and/or writers who has been at Illumination for a while.

Kathryn A. LeRoy, Ph.D. is a writer who has been with Illumination since its inception, and just recently was promoted (or sentenced? ;-} ) to editor. I particularly benefit from the fact that she is in a close time zone and has taken on some of the publishing workload. Many hands make for light work and it is great to have her onboard in this capacity.

Plus, I have enjoyed conversing with her on Slack and find her writing particularly insightful. I really like the following article because of the phrase she uses; grasping for gratitude. I think that is a particularly poetic way to describe how we might feel right now. Read her work here:

If you want to connect with me or any of the editors, please consider joining the Illumination Slack workgroup. You can request an invitation to Slack by contacting Dr Mehmet Yildiz from this link. Please type “Request for Slack” on the heading as Dr. Yildiz has many other requests from this link.

I am always willing to answer questions and provide information for anyone. The other editors and writers are as well. Slack is the best way to interact if you have questions.

If you need some tips to get up and running on Slack, this article is a good starting point:

The Big Ask

As promised, if I featured your story here, or are reading this and feel inspired, I encourage you to pay forward the concept of highlighting the work of others.

Please consider choosing another writer (or writers) and creating a story that emphasizes aspects that you appreciate about their work. It could be their style, topic choices, voice, technical aspects of writing, or maybe you just like their profile picture.

I am confident that when you do this you will find that your own writing work gets better. In many ways I believe that the person that brings attention to others’ work benefits even more than the recipient. That is one of the core premises and values of Illumination, and when you engage you will find that you reap dividends. I encourage you to give it a whirl. And, when you do, tag me in your article. I love being exposed to stuff I might not have otherwise seen.

Bonus Gift — The Writing Challenge

There are two types of writers in the world. Those who have experienced writer’s block, and those that will.

One of the great remedies to the question, “What do I write next?” is responding to a prompt or challenge provided by another writer. I personally have benefitted significantly from this and, to some extent, this section is a bit self-serving because I want to have some handy prompts to write about occasionally.

Older prompts:

Some older prompts I have been involved in are: If I wasn’t a writer I would…, Self-Discovery during lock down, a funny video prompt, a musical prompt and most recently a query about what I would do if I suddenly became rich.

List of New Challenges and Prompts

I am hoping to develop a list of newer prompts with their originators. Send me your writing prompts! Here’s what we have so far:

Kevin Buddaeus

This one is by a writer that is outside of Illumination, but I notice that several people are posting responses to her challenge in Illumination. Sarah E Sturgis let me know if you don’t want to be included here and I will remove. And, if you want to be added to Illumination as a writer, just use this link to sign up and join!

Sarah E Sturgis

If you are participating in or originating a challenge and you want to include it here for people to find, either respond to this article or hit me up on Slack (@timothykey).

Next Group

Welcome to Illumination! Tomorrow I will pull from this new group of recently added writers:

Emma Laver-Scott, Lionel Piguet, Cole Porto, GK, rtam., H. N. Uhlig, Nicolebazhenov, Ash Jurberg, Trent Swanson, Gloria D. Gonsalves, Athif Ibrahim, Sandra Szubert, Suellen Wheless Estes, Moriah Murphy-Thornley, Alison Schaffir, Divya Shakthi, Chathurika Gamaethige, Bilal Rifas, John O’Neill, Ruxandra Pana, Vlad Ludoșanu, Valerie Kaufman, Quynh Trang Tran, kushal Gupta, Nehemiah Afe

If you want me to highlight one of your stories in particular, or have any questions just respond to this story, or better yet, hit me up on Slack!

Thanks for reading, I am enjoying getting to know all the new writers on Illumination!

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Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.New writer article day 4