Illumination and Its Writers Have Expanded My Horizons

I have learned about poetry, video making, Google stories and other ways of writing since joining Illumination back when it was just starting

Daily gratitude

Every day I make a mental note to be grateful. It is the key to being happy. When I take a moment to think about the things in my life make me happy, I have ILLUMINATION on the list, along with a lot of other things.

The beautiful thing about ILLUMINATION is that I have grown as a writer since this publication started not too long ago. I remember the humble beginnings, then watching it take off and grown. It is hard to believe it has only been 4+ months since this publication began.

Community and Serendipity

There is a great writing community here. Every day, I discover new writers and enjoy reading their stories. That is a huge source of joy in my life. I joined Medium to read the Atlantic and gladly paid my subscription fee just to have access to their articles and discovered all of the great content here as a bonus. It illustrates the serendipity idea Dr Mehmet Yildiz always reminds us of in his bulletins of the great writing and other works people have contributed.

Learning New Creative Formats

I have shot video in the past, but I never got creative like I have since watching all of the great contributions people have been making to the ILLUMINATION YouTube channel. Video always interested me. I have consumed enough of it throughout my life. But, having a community of other people making videos and encouraging their creation is a blessing.

Video

I probably wouldn’t have set out to create videos for other people to watch if it hadn’t been for the call for contributors to add to the ILLUMINATION YT channel.

I am glad that I did, because I’m having fun creating and editing videos.

I have shot a lot of footage over the years, but never tried editing it into something for display until this year, with the exception of a video editing class I took when I was in high school back in the VHS days.

Google Stories

I’ve been learning how to create Google Stories.

Here’s a story I wrote about the format Google is promoting in mobile search results:

Here is a Google Story I created for a poem I recently wrote:

Poetry

Before coming to Medium, I had a lot of baggage associated with poetry. It might have been because the way it was taught (or not taught) in school.

It seemed complicated and scary. Filled with rules. Requirements to do this and to do that. Maybe even a little mathematical in some ways. Counting syllables, conforming to some sort of numbered pattern I found impossible to decipher in my young brain.

So, I avoided poetry. Until now.

Medium has taught me to enjoy it.

To have fun with it.

To let the words just flow from my heart.

To not be afraid that I wasn’t understanding the complicated coding structures of generating a perfect poem that would conform to the standards set forth in some style book somewhere.

It is freeing.

It is a blessing.

But, there is a beauty in mathematics. Just because I don’t understand it, doesn’t negate that fact. I just have to continue to be curious and willing to learn and try and experiment and be willing to fail and to break some rules.

Mathematical Poetry exists:

The diversity of stories is wonderful

I try to read as much as I can, but I know I can’t read everything because of practical considerations. I make sure to read contributions to Publisher’s Spotlight 1.0:

and on the Illumination RSS feed which lists submissions in a text format:

I love having a great source of reading to dip into throughout the day

I thank everyone who contributes to a vibrant and growing community. The diversity and richness makes ILLUMINATION a special place and I’m glad that you are a part of it!

Chris Hedges, BA (journalism / political science), JD, is an editor at ILLUMINATION, The Bad Influence, and Red Curtain Erotica.