Writing — Publications

Illumination Rocks

Diversity is all there is. Success comes with sharing

When I first started out on Medium, in May 2019, I felt lonely. Nobody cared about my stories, it seemed. I loved to write my stories, but building up my audience happened outside of Medium.

On LinkedIn, I am a well-known sharer of wisdom for a better future. Followed by many, from university professors to CEOs and startup-entrepreneurs. We talk about ecology and technology. About the economy and new business models. And about trends towards a better future.

We share, we interact, we build upon each others’ wisdom.

On Facebook and Twitter, many permaculture-friends and ecosystem restoration followers from all over the world share their wisdom with me. And I with them. Supportively. Non-judgementally.

My friends and I grow together. Supporting each other fiercely and co-creating the better future for all.

My Medium following did flourish with time. In March 2020, I wrote this story with tips on how I achieved my first 1,000 followers.

Medium gave me a great template to make longer stories than just short social media posts. My followers on other social media understood me better. Started to interact more. My social media are building upon each other.

And I found a unique writing voice to be me. Completely and utterly me.

Results: 2,500 very relevant contacts on LinkedIn who also know how to find me when they want to involve me in paid work. And 2,800 followers on Medium now. And growing. Steadily. Organically. No rush.

Readers, who know me by now, understand that I’m not into Medium for the quick bucks. For the quick fixes. For fame and fortune. I’m all about impact. We have a new world to design, a new economy to explore, worldwide equality to arrange. And the more I can share about my lessons, the more people come with me on this journey.

In the meantime, I live the most adventurous life ever. A life that started in the summer of 2013, when my worldview changed. In case you wonder, I was 48 then and never looked back to my corporate, boring, money-richer life.

I found big love. My soulmate Mike. I found forever friends from all around the world. Traveling mindfully and adventurously, sharing knowledge, and having fun every day of my new life. I really would wish it for everyone…

In short: I now live the life I always wanted but never knew how to create.

Adversity for Illumination

My story started in March 2020, when Dr Mehmet Yildiz approached me for Illumination.

And I wrote my first story for this new publication.

Life on Medium started becoming adventurous again, I must say.

Loneliness on the Medium platform was over.

I met the most amazing friends from all over the world whom I support, who support me, and who create the most wonderful projects and stories together.

But, like in every good story, there’s adversity as well.

Some jealous people started creating allegations about Illumination, calling the publication names. Telling that we are only for non-native writers. Having no quality, just quantity. Being a cult.

These are all baseless speculations as Dr Mehmet Yildiz articulated in this story recently.

Well, that’s not my story. I have a positive and optimistic view of Illumination.

Visibility to Creation of Writers

Yes, we read. We read a lot. And yes, we engage. We support the writers that have put all their love and energy into their stories. We give supportive comments to help them improve their stories even more.

What we do is give support. Build friendships. Form groups with the same interests and create projects together.

By now, Illumination is vast and still growing. I really don’t know all of the 2,600+ writers anymore. Let alone all 23,000 readers, although I try to read and support new writers every day.

All is built upon the four words that Dr Mehmet Yildiz started out with. Diversity. Fusion. Synergy. Serendipity.

And it has proven a magical formula. Diversity grows, interaction grows. Loneliness diminishes. And why? Because we are stimulated to interact. To support. To add to other stories with comments. To give as much as we can.

And yes, success follows the giving. That’s how Mother Nature works. That’s the alchemy of serendipity and synchronicity. It’s the magical formula of the law of attraction.

And for the people who say that Illumination is only for loser writers, who don’t give quality, we just clocked out first two viral stories. Congratulations, Brian and Kristin! And congratulations to all of the Illumination editors who work hard to add value to our writers. I’m proud of you all!

Going Viral

Going viral is not possible when you don’t write quality.

The first viral story is by Brian E. Wish, PhD, curated in #politics and #election2020. The story reached 69,000+ views and still counting:

The second viral story is by Kristin Wilson She writes great stories in the tags #travel and #life. This story has 64,000 views and counting.

So, please, ignorant people, stop the bashing.

Illumination is successful because we have an amazing bunch of very professional editors! Thank you, my friends. Dr Mehmet Yildiz, Mary Holden, Ann Venkataraman, Kathryn A. LeRoy, Ph.D., Sylvia Love Johnson, Tree Langdon ♾️, Bill Abbate, Timothy Key, Joe Luca, Alison Tennent, René Junge, Aurora Eliam, CMP, Dr John Rose, Paul Myers MBA, Arthur G. Hernandez, Brian E. Wish, PhD, Rasheed Hooda, Kevin Buddaeus, Charlotte Zobeir Ali, B. A. Cumberlidge., Karen Madej💛, Dr Ron Pol, Michael Patanella, Dipti Pande, P.G. Barnett, Dr Michael Heng, Chris Hedges, Kathy Lum, Ahmed Jamal, Linda Caroll

You help make my writing better without violating my personal creativity. You publish our stories quickly. Help us become better. But also let us have our own growth cycle in becoming a better writer. Not being arrogant in your editing. Not changing too much.

We all started somewhere, didn’t we? I know I did! And now 2.8K followers love to read my work. That’s awesome! I’m grateful to all my readers!

So yes, every writer is welcome within Illumination. And we help each other become better and better and better. Until perhaps even I, as a non-native writer, can have a viral story. Or 2? Or 10?

I love daring and visualizing and thinking big!

When the day comes, I know who to thank! All my readers and editors!

There’s enough polarization out there. Let’s support each other fiercely in everything we do. The veils are thin now, we are really able to create a better world together. On many, many aspects.

But we have to stop fighting and learn how to trust. We have to start using our personal energy to build upon our passions. And become successful with that. Supporting others along the way. Success tastes so much better when shared!

No one is perfect. But we all do our best. And yes, we see the world through different lenses. Who cares? Let’s trust each other and build, have fun, love, and create the best life we can ever have!

Illumination gave me the daring to become a poet. Well, that’s value no one has ever created for me. It’s worth millions to me!

And for those who still don’t understand, I’m no editor or in any way responsible for Illumination. But yes, I am in Slack and communicate with all the other writers. You would be most welcome to do the same. Make the serendipity formula work for you.

And if you wonder, I’m also a writer for The Startup, Better Marketing, Age of Awareness, The Environmental Reporter, Climate Conscious, Activate the Future, Be Unique, House of Haiku, The POM, and several other publications.

The Ascent, P.S. I love You, and The Creative Cafe have just accepted me as a writer, so I’m thinking about how to serve their audience best.

And I read there as much as I do anywhere else. I support and comment. And I thank all those editors as well for making me a better writer.

Eclectic writing, quality writing, and making a difference in this world. That’s what Medium and social media are for me.

And that’s what Illumination is for me, too.

Here is a Special Illumination Project close to my heart. It’s initiated by Dr John Rose and is called The Gaia Project. If you love Mother Nature and want to invent your own sustainable path to a better future, please be a part of it and share your stories.

Gaia, Illumination, and I will love you for it!

Here’s my own first story for The Gaia Project:

Happy writing. Happy connecting. Happy supporting!

If you want to connect, you can always find me on LinkedIn or somewhere in my food forest making a difference in the life of trees and humans…