Editor’s Choice
Hand-Picked Articles #231
Chosen by the content curators of ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications on Medium for avid readers

Dear Readers and Writers,
Today, we selected engaging and informative pieces covering many topics for your enjoyment. These writers are creative, engaging, and experienced contributors to ILLUMINATION.
This post introduces some great stories published on Illumination and a few from our other publications. The list covers valuable pieces from multiple topics written by experienced writers that we save in our curated collections for loyal readers. We believe you will find fascinating stories in this new collection.
Thank you for your support and engagement with our contributors. Writers appreciate your taking the time to read these great stories and share them. You might check out your favorite authors via a keyword search (e.g., Ctrl F in PC) and follow the authors whose stories resonate with you.
If you missed out on our previous collection, you might find it in the attached link.
We provided practical tips to improve ethical and legal standards for AI-generated content on Medium.
Our editorial team has noticed a growing interest among writers in using AI tools to improve their writing and explore its endless possibilities.
However, readers of Illumination Integrated Publications only wanted to read human-generated content. We value and respect their preference for human-generated stories. We analyzed the situation and created a viable solution.
Welcome to the Lampshade of ILLUMINATION.
Illumination Integrated Publications has created a unique opportunity for writers to embrace the emerging technology of AI tools in their writing.
We also believe in diversity and opportunities for writers to explore emerging technologies. That’s why we have created a separate publication called the Lampshade of ILLUMINATION, which allows for AI-generated content.
We are grateful for the contributions of our writers and the support of loyal readers. Here is our previous collection for those who missed it.
We introduce our new writers at the end of the post. Let’s give them a warm welcome and explore their stories.
Recent Writer Introductions
Meet Jussi Luukkonen, MBA on Medium
Senior editor of Illumination Integrated Publications
medium.com
Update on Stats
We received and analyzed your concerns about declining stats. Our chief editor posted an informative and optimistic story encouraging writers to be patient during the transition period. He informs that stats get better again. You might check his findings and thoughts in the attached stories.
A Silver Lining Appears in the Cloud of Medium Distribution World
It’s Not the Quality that Causes Issues with Views: It might be the misconfigured distribution system in the blind spot of the operators.
Another update for writers is that Dr. Yildiz analyzed and shared his findings about the problems with short-form stories not getting desired views. If your short-form stories do not perform well, you are not alone. The link: Here’s Why I Was Wrong about Short-Form Stories on Medium.
ILLUMINATION editors posted a newsletter, updating us on our progress. We are looking for more volunteer editors, as mentioned in the newsletter.
Important Guides for Contributors
Every writer of our publications needs to review these guiding policies before submitting their stories. We are tolerant and flexible, not censoring content. However, the following are non-negotiable rules.
Featured Stories from ILLUMINATION Today
Today, we curated informative and engaging stories, mainly from ILLUMINATION and a few from our other publications as samples.

Six Tips for a Youthful and Healthy Life as We Age. Dr Mehmet Yildiz
I Spent Three Months Collecting the Best Underrated Writing Tips on the Internet Tim Denning
3 Words to Stop You from Falling Into a Bad Mood David Gerken
How to Access Secret Knowledge Few Others Use and Get Smarter Faster Ayodeji Awosika
A Social Hibernation Is on The Horizon Dr. Deborah M. Vereen-Family Engagement Influencer
Unpractical Things Americans Are Attached To, According to My European Husband Anastasia Frugaard
I Interviewed Medium’s New CEO. Here’s What He Shared About His Plans for the Future. Sinem Günel
Utility of Biomarkers In Personalized Medicine Dr. ADAM TABRIZ
Get Into the Flow to Improve Productivity Mark Sanford, Ph.D.
Aim Before You Shoot Cedric Johnson, PhD
What the ‘McDonald’s Career Track’ Means for Our Collective Financial Future Richelle Délia, PhD
The Decentraland Effect: Virtual Millionaires or an Anomaly? Nick Sokol, PhD
Words of Wisdom from the Realm of Spirituality Tara Desai PhD
For This New Year, Just Practice Dr. Alex Krejci
New Year Survival Tips for Food Addicts Joan Kent, PhD
5 Defining Qualities of People Who Truly Embrace Life — and Love Every Moment of It! Kristie Leong M.D.
Coffee Day-Dreams. Dr John Frederick Rose
Meet Sinem Günel
Self Healing Promises for a Happier 2022 Zeenat Merchant Syal, M.A, M.Sc
I Became a Top Writer in 3 Topics But Haven’t Got Any Benefits Yet. Aiden (Illumination Gaming)
“The Law of Attraction” & “Radical Nonduality” Are Powerful Opposite Truths Alan Lew
How To Drive Traffic To Your Medium Stories Ahmed Tarek
When It Comes To Social Support Michael Patanella
Cash Not Best Option For 2022 Carlos Pascual
My Toxic Parents Sabotaged My Relationships Carol Chea
Are You Guilty of Christmas Shaming? Would You Break the 7 Holy Commandments of Christmas? Caryn Leach-Smith
How to Motivate Yourself to Workout When You Don’t Want To Jessey Anthony
Many Good, Innocent People Languish In Our Prison Systems. This Is So Wrong. Maria Rattray
5 Aspects of Mindfulness That I Have Found to Be Most Helpful Damian Clark
Elon Musk: Have More Kids or Our Civilization Crumbles DC Crawford
Why It’s Okay Not To Have New Year Resolutions Don Johnson
Why It’s Okay Not To Have New Year Resolutions
Give yourself a break and let them emerge.
medium.com
An Ancient and Long-forgotten Practice Is Coming Back. Eduardo Remolins
What We Need to Understand as People trying to be Entrepreneurs Emmanuel A. Anderson
It’s Not A Good Time To Visit Washington, D.C. Floyd Mori
Stop Treating Healthcare Providers Badly Alexandra Duncan
Guilt tripping is disgusting, icky Amelie Bauer
Back to Work Scaries — Here are 4 Ways to Transition Fearlessly Into the New Year Ange Dim
Forgetting You! Annelise Lords
5 simple habits to put in place for a more productive & less stressful 2022 Annika Lindberg
Midnight Mass Broke The Penguin Argumentative Penguin
An Engagement at Galaxyland Athena Milios
How to Finally Get To That Dream Bill Abbate
This One 45-Minute Easy-Going Daily Exercise Routine Will Keep You Lean And Fit For Life Rob Hourmont
An Art Odyssey in NYC Bridget Stella Ruxton Wilson
What I Learned After I Ate the Last Sugar Cookie Brooke Ramey Nelson
My 100th Article on Medium Calum James
America, Trump, Dictatorship, and the Big Lie Gadwall Jackson
A Mother — A Nurse Pene Hodge
Authentic Happiness Comes From Speaking Your Truth Rob Stux
Face the Fear and Accelerate Past the Rate of Change Cairo Walker
Looking for My Father in Emerson’s Essays Keith R Wilson
How Introverts Can Thrive in an Extrovert-Dominant Workplace Rob Cyrier
A Boy Named Lilac Emily Wilcox
Parenting’s Worst Nightmare is Suicide Tooth Truth Roopa Vikesh
5 Reasons Donald Trump Will Run For President In 2024 Mark Alden
Why We Voted Down Right-Wing Populism Vanessa Robinson
Alternative Healing Kenneth Silvestri
Authors: Are You a One-Trick Pony? Jacquelyn Lynn
Find Inspiration In Your Creative Family Tree Jim Woods
We Desperately Need Election Reform Jim West
5 Interesting Ways to Travel From Your Living Room Anu Anniah
“I Traded My Couch for a Mouse” Jeff the Content Coach
7 Important Things To Stop Your Skin Aging Gokhan Yalcuk
I Just Created My First Video On TikTok Aiden (Illumination Gaming)
Orange juice — Please Haimish Mead
Paranoia Haji
Lessons learned fromTechnology — by a dense woman trying to learn the ropes Jackie Madden Haugh
Introverts vs. Extroverts on writing Jay aware
Customer Service Come Home Jennifer Pierce
A Tribute to Joanne Jesse Bramani
Breakthrough Stories Make All the Difference Rebecca Sealfon
10 Powerful Quotes To Calm Your Mind Letters from E.K.
You Don’t Need to Be Perfect to Be Loved Lilian Poon
Why Do You Need A Successful Hero To Identify With A Character? Lucia Landini
Black Life-If It Happened Then It’s a Fact Maryam Ismail
More Insomniatic Ramblings Misty Rae
5 Ways My Faith Has Changed During the Pandemic Nahid Husain-Habib
The Price Of Not Pursuing Your Passions Nico Sifiso
Broken Thoughts NIDAA
5 Top Limitations of A Sustainable Supply Chain Nora
What If It’s Not Meant For Me?” Nova Binx
Want to Keep Your Resolutions? Here’s How. Oliver W. Johnson
Writing on Medium is a Trapeze Without a Net Paul Coogan
Self-Awareness — a Poem Roxanne Barbour
Fethi Sekin: The Turkish Police Officer Life and Heroic Death Rui Alves
Copy the Thought Process, Don’t Copy the Content! Sara Marium
Upon Greeting The Return of Wildlife At A Pond By A Grove Sav Map
Is the Real World as Evil as the Internet Appears? Shannon Piérre
How You Can Increase Your Income With KDP Low Content Books Shea Hulse
How 3 Weeks of Meditation Rewired My Brain Tammy Bergstrom
Tech Stories on Technology Hits #2 ILLUMINATION Amplifier
Five Tips to Melt Visceral Fat and Have a Defined Belly Dr Mehmet Yildiz
Meet Kristina Segarra
Why Does Your website have little or no traffic? Patrick OConnell
The Miracle of Life Libby Shively McAvoy
Healing Meditation for My Country Blair Abee
A Stripped Back Description of Buddhism Frank T Bird
For Those Who Are Thinking of Attaining an APA Accredited Ph.D. Joshua J. Lyon
I Bought A Baby Camera To Help My Friend “Capture” How His Wife Beats Him Up Mila
A 2-Minute Rant on the Problem with Computer Science Education Murtaza Ali
Freelance Writing on Synergy ILLUMINATION
3 Painful Myths of Email Marketing Jeff the Content Coach
Influence the Whole Brain for Success Dr Mehmet Yildiz
What is Your Ikigai and How Can You Achieve Success With It John Cunningham
4 Ways To Stop Thinking About Someone Above The Middle
My Anxiety Spiked During My Productivity Detox Alina Vrabie
The Long View America Zed⚡
Outstanding Stories — Volume 84 ILLUMINATION-Curated
Outstanding Stories — Volume 84
Selected stories from top writers of ILLUMINATION-Curated
medium.com
New Year’s Resolutions Suck Joe Merkle
30 Freelance Business Ideas You Can Start Now Johnathan Reeper
Boom! Why I’ll Leave Medium And Start My Own Newsletter Kristina God
10 REASONS TO INNOVATE Lakshmi Shree
Employees Don’t Want to Return to the Office, Why Not? Lawson Wallace
Why I Choose to Live in Australia Dr Mehmet Yildiz
New Year, Same Me Leanne Mullan
Instead of Blaming Men for Relationships Problems, I Took A Long, Hard Look at Myself Beth Byfield
Morning Rituals Brooklyn Muse
What’s The Difference Between Your True Personality And Your Persona? Christina Sponias
Six Engaging YouTube Channels about Religion Danielle Hestand
The Secret To Avoid Struggling, Worrying, Or Doubting It’s Going To Happen Dave Richards
A Prayer For Our Family Jade Willow
Don’t Let Some One Come Between You Jim McAulay🍁
Why Alignment Matters In Dungeons & Dragons John Teehan
Create a Roadmap for Your Life Today! Justin Stinnett
The Illusion of Life: Balinese Style Kathryn Eriksen
The Illusion of Life: Balinese Style
There is so much more to life than what we perceive.
medium.com
I No Longer Know How to Socialize Kyra Bussanich
It’s amazing to me, How some Kids survive their Parents Lawson Wallace
3 Simple Tricks To Get Out of Your Head, and Enjoy the Moment Instead Letters from E.K.
Grasping to Understand The Reasoning Behind How Alberta Is Handling Covid Linda Osipow
Pilot Turned Travel Blogger Turned Freelance Content Writer Lola Rosario
One Thing a Personal Experience of an Ordinary British Girl Can Teach You Lucia Landini
Don’t Be Fooled. Impatience Can Also Be A Virtue. Mary Liga
Black Diamond Series: These 10 Slides Raised More Than 7 M$ Including Our Series A Round Mika Tienhaara
This Passive Income Skill Can Enhance Writers’ Lifestyle Dr Mehmet Yildiz
The Importance Of Performing TOWS Analysis To Grow Your Brand Nora
The Battle of Los Angeles — 80 Year Anniversary Otis Adams
Writing More Starts With The First Word Pamela Kazmierczak
Why Is December So Beautiful, Yet Ugly & Mean? Pius Adejumobi
You Don’t Need To Be Depressed To Think About Your Mental Health Ram Vegiraju
The Sacrifice of a Traveler’s Feet Rosa de Saron C.
How To Cultivate Your Free Time and Have Less Stuff to Do Rosa Diaz
The Little Story of a Playful Little Rat Rose Malana
Firm Goals With Flexible Methods Divya Yerraguntla
Expressions Dr. Fatima Imam
Management Fix Eduardo Espinheira
You Want to Write Online in 2022? Publish Your Articles Here Eva Keiffenheim
Why would you ‘unclap’ an article? Fit$
Foreigners — a Poem Roxanne Barbour
Cultivating Kindness Ruks Moreea
Proven by Science: Kindness Is Good for Your Health Sally Prag
“Don’t-Air-Our-Dirty-Laundry” Syndrome is Hurting Our Minority Communities Sarah Mostafa
7 Steps to Relieve Chronic Pain You, Me and Happiness
Crush Your Ego to Pieces with a Sledgehammer or Something Stronger Zak
Google Is Overthrown as the World’s Most Popular Website Aql
Why We Do Bad Things… Steve C
Journey into Silence Discover if You Are a Slave to Ego or Know The True Self. Lady Jhershierra
The Blacklisted Dominican Sales Funnel Abandoned Trapper Sherwood
How to Organise and Manage Emails Like a Spartan Trisha Dunbar (She/Her)
We Didn’t Need Police In Schools. We Had Teachers Vuyo Ngcakani
Review of A Quiet Place and Its Sequel Movie Napoleon
Pain Sucks, So I Decided To Buy and Try This New Massager For My Partner KL Simmons
Mountain Yonke54
Prototype For Success Allison Bonilla
Grateful Though I Am No Billionaire paulmartincurry
Three Tips to Eliminate Loose Skin Dr Mehmet Yildiz
Thank you for reading these great stories 🙏
Meta Collections
ILLUMINATION Book Chapters Collections
Curated Book Chapters of Illumination #01 ILLUMINATION-Curator
Hand-Picked Book Chapters #01 ILLUMINATION Amplifier
How To Create A 30,000 Words E-book In A Month Dr Mehmet Yildiz
Sample Collections by ILLUMINATION
ILLUMINATION on YouTube — New Publication
Illumination YouTube Coordinator created a new publication for YouTube enthusiasts who can display their videos on Medium. All writers are invited to submit their YouTube related posts.
ILLUMINATION Gaming Publication
If you missed the announcement of our new publication by Illumination Gaming, here is the link.
We look forward to your stories in ILLUMINATION Gaming.
Sample ILLUMINATION-Curated Collections
Featured Writers of ILLUMINATION
ILLUMINATION editors feature writers to bring them new readers. We will introduce more writers contributing to our publications soon. In the meantime, you might check out selected stories of these great storytellers.
Meet Dr. Gabriella Kőrösi on Medium Lady Dr. Gabriella Korosi
Meet Rob Hourmont on Medium: Rob Hourmont
Meet Melinda Blau Melinda Blau
Meet Patrick OConnell Patrick OConnell
Meet Joan Gershman Joan Gershman
Meet Sobaan Saeed: Sobaan Saeed
Meet Don Martin Don Martin
Please take the opportunity to explore the stories of these writers and support them with meaningful engagement.
Curated Writer Bios
You might also feature yourself by posting a writer bio like the stories in the attached collection that I compiled. We distribute them to our subscribers.
Curated Writer Bios
Learn about contributing writers of ILLUMINATION written by their pen
medium.com
Reading Club
ILLUMINATION-Curator introduced our new Reading Club. If you are a Medium member and don’t have writer access to our publications or Slack, you may request via this weblink.
We will add you to our Slack workspace upon approval of your writer application. We will also feature some of those shared stories in the club in our upcoming collections. So you may link your stories to the Reading Club channel on the Slack workspace.
We look forward to your participation.
Meet Interviewed Writers
Recently we interviewed Lawson Wallace and Dr. Preeti Singh.
An Interview with Lawson Wallace
An Interview with Dr. Preeti Singh
Collection of Interviewed Writers
Attached is a collection of interviews conducted by our chief editor Dr Mehmet Yildiz in the attached collection.
If you want to be interviewed, you can contact Dr. Yildiz on Illumination Slack workspace.
Writing Prompts and Challenges
Our prolific writers might consider joining these writing challenges to find new readers and increase their reading times.
100 Day Challenge For New Writers
1,000 Short Posts in 100 Days
Invitation To A Writing Challenge
If writers participate in these challenges, they might increase the chance of becoming a top writer in three months.
How to Become a Top Writer in Three Months on Medium
Besides, if one of your stories goes viral, you can earn a significant income. So it is a good idea to increase the chance of viral stories by following key rules. Dr Yildiz analyzed the viral stories and shared his findings.
What I Learned by Reviewing 100+ Viral Articles in 2021
Guiding Stories for New Writers
Dr Mehmet Yildiz guides new writers to increase their views and reading times answering frequently asked questions by new writers.
He posted an article about being a prolific writer as a full-time worker. I believe writers can learn from his model and experience.
We look forward to your stories in ILLUMINATION Gaming.
Let’s welcome the new writers who join us today.
Thomas Allen Moon, Goddess Matula, Haley Hougardy, Alhassan Musa Maibasira, Sameer Somal, Alexander, Irene Chu, Mansi Shah, Ivy Marie L, Arvind Telharkar.
Let’s also give a warm welcome to recently joined writers. Some of them have already posted their first articles. Let’s support their content!
Kayla Hicks, Wennhaywood, Kai, Jeloze Ali, Christa Brian, Konner Blunt, Amy Liu, BK Johnsen, MaryClare StFrancis, M.A., Julie Gaeta, Colin Taisey, Susie Arnett, Robert G. Longpré, Gioia Dalosso, Aisha Ibrahim (ZP), Liz Hunt, Deon Christie, Maha Ahmed, Ibrahim Ali, Ram Musfi, Carolina Smith, Dennis Hester, Michele Cambardella, Yvens Serpa, Mariana Carvalho, Elias K, Glyn Bawden, Vytas Stoskus, AJN, Susi Moore 🌿💜, A.M. Cal, Chloé Garnham, Zuzanna Żak, Dougfrombk, Phoebe Kranefuss, Elias K, Mark El-Rayes, Blessing Unukpo, Pooja Sharma,
The key point for new contributors is to review the onboarding pack, as it includes publication-specific information for a smooth transition. We attached it below.
As a benefit of fast publishing, your stories will start earning income and finding more readers quickly.
Please caption your photos and ensure that that they are not copyrighted: either belong to you or from free sources. Not captioning and using copyrighted photos waste our editors’ precious time and cause delays in publishing your stories.
Please Note that not captioning images and using copyrighted photos will lead to the rejection of stories.
ILLUMINATION provided guidance to new writers on collection #133.
We are sorry for the publishing delays. Thank you for your understanding and patience. Your stories will be published eventually.
You may also consider self-publishing as we accept them. However, draft submissions might bring more readers, so it is up to you.
We accepts both draft and self-published stories. However, editors give priority to drafts as these stories need to find readers, waiting in the queue for a while.
Let’s Meet Our Editors Who Published These Stories
The following stories cover the profiles of our volunteer editors. These volunteer editors are the ones reviewing and publishing the stories in these collections. They are from various time zones clearing the publication queue on their precious time daily.
Meet Dr Mehmet Yildiz — Dr Mehmet Yildiz Chief Editor and Owner
Helpful References for New Writers
Essential Checklist for Writers and Bloggers
How to Write Content Guaranteed to Get Views and Reads
Starter Kit for Writers of ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications
7 Tips for Freelance Writers Dealing with Chronic Stress Effectively
What I Learned After Publishing 1,010 And Reading 100,000 Stories
The Joy of Selling 1,000+ Books In A Month With Minimal Investment
Science-Based Therapeutic Value of Expressive Writing for Mental Health
Helpful Guides for All Contributors
Onboarding Pack for New Writers
New writers, please read this pack before submitting your stories.
Guiding Posts on our Publications
Publication-related stories can be accessed via this collection.
Meet Editors of Our Publications
Collection of Editor Bios
Introducing Writers Bios
Curated Writer Bios
Curated Writer Bios
Learn about contributing writers of ILLUMINATION written by their pen
medium.com
Updates from Euphoria by Dr Yildiz, owner of our publications
I Write about Health as It Matters.
Invitation to ILLUMINATION YouTube Channel
Invitation to Write for ILLUMINATION on YouTube Publication
Invitation: Join ILLUMINATION Gaming Publication as a Writer
Publications by Our Writers on Medium
Why Writers Need Personal Publications
Illumination Fiction Club
Invitation to Potential Writers
If you wish to join Illumination Integration publications, please send a request via this link. We will help you gain visibility and succeed as a top writer on Medium. Please mention the publication name with your Medium account ID in the request.
If you are new to Medium, you can join via this link. Readers can read thousands of stories, and writers may monetize self-published content.
As our chief editor, Dr Mehmet Yildiz says, “opportunities for writers and readers are endless on this platform.”
Let’s collaborate!
You might find the links to our publications in the following list.
ILLUMINATION ILLUMINATION-Curated ILLUMINATION’ S MIRROR ILLUMINATION Book Chapters Technology Hits SYNERGY Readers Hope Illumination on YouTube Illumination Gaming ILLUMINATION’s Blog






