Abundant Future
Let’s Be Inclusive and Illuminate!
How diversity and inclusivity have shaped ILLUMINATION and why that’s important for the abundant future we are co-creating.
Inclusivity is a big part of the abundant future I’m working towards. But what does it take to be inclusive? And what does the Medium publication ILLUMINATION has to do with it?
Well, let me start with the last question. ILLUMINATION is a successful publication on Medium that has attracted 1500+ writers and 10,000+ readers in 3 months’ time.
You can call that success, can’t you?
And the success started with the four pillars: diversity, synergy, fusion, and serendipity.
Diversity is not only that we welcome all diverse writers, but we also very much appreciate each other.
That means:
- We are reading a lot
- We are appreciating each other’s stories (often clapping up to 50 times)
- We are commenting on each other’s stories. Adding our own wisdom for other readers and showing support
It’s a simple law of nature. And it works! If we all give our energy and pro-active support to a community, there will be enough for everybody to receive.
Inclusivity Needed
You can imagine that our kind of abundant future has to include everyone. All human beings. Of all colors. All ages. All cultures. All walks of life. And all in their own ways.
But we’re not there yet. Recently, I read this article by Ian McDermod about environmental education. And how it’s racist, maybe without even realizing it.
“Educators of color have had positive experiences in their profession, but many feel as if they can’t bring who they are to the workplace and must consistently handle “white fragility.” When the educators raised these issues, they were often met with backlash statements such as they are making people uncomfortable.” — Ian McDermod
Making people uncomfortable…
Come on, people, haven’t we learned something after all these life-lesson-and personal-development stories here on Medium?
I’ve realized by now that NO ONE can MAKE me uncomfortable but ME.
Being uncomfortable is in my own head. And in my own head only.
It just means that I’m in my bubble, unable to stretch my edges to include other perceptions. It means I’m not really connecting to another person. And also that’s my own doing.
But is that all there is to it? How do we speak out when someone really crosses the line big time? I recently read a story by Holly Jahangiri. And I have not always been very good at speaking my truths…
Perhaps it’s the best way to just stretch the edges of our perception and reach out to people different from ourselves. Hear their stories. Without judging. Just listening and absorbing. It’ll make our lives so much richer…
Here’s a great story by John Gorman, who gives us some clues on what privileged people (like me) can do, practically. As writers. As educators. As humans. To be inclusive and improve our world.
- Intentionally read non-white writers
- Cultivate an inclusive social circle
- Listen to less white music
- Check yourself. Check your writing for the patterns that you were earlier not aware of
- Write from the perspective of how the world sees you, rather than how you see yourself
- Stay in your lane. Be true to yourself. Just stretch the edges of your perception wide and wider and widest…
- Expect to get checked
- Engage with your diverse (non-white) reader base
- Be more inclusive with your references
“It’s our responsibility. It’s long overdue. It’s the right thing to do. And like it or not, it’s the white thing to do. No one else can do it for us. And if history has taught us anything, it’s that if white people really want to do something, they will. After all, racism is still alive and well, but we’ve sent astronauts into space. Both made big news recently.” — John Gorman
Social Media and Diversity
I must say, when I compare social media, Medium is already rather inclusive. It does allow freedom of speech but doesn’t allow hatred and bashing.
ILLUMINATION shines a light and goes even one step further.
And after three months of activity, I still find that the writers here practice what they preach. Diversity is key. We collaborate in a pro-active, positive atmosphere and are often inspired by other viewpoints.
We read each other’s stories, we value them, and we give constructive comments. We enjoy different points of view. From different walks of life. All ages. All cultures. Business-like and poetic. Colorful.
Fully alive!
And if you want to be part of it, feel very warmly welcomed!
This story gives newbies some practical tips. We enjoy success. But we also realize it starts with being active and giving first.
And the by-product of all this diversity will be increased creativity. And that in itself will feed our spirits and nourish our souls.
If you need guidance, just reach out to our editorial team. Or read some instruction stories by Timothy Key. Like this one.
Or check out the FAQ written by Dr Mehmet Yildiz
Other Social Media
We also shamelessly promote each other’s work on social media. We professionally use Search Engine Optimization, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard and many other media.
All writers deserve to shine, improve the quality of their work, and be read!
Check us out, or join us on Slack. All writers welcome! You can request an invitation to Slack from this link. Please type Request for Slack on the heading.
Let’s make the cake bigger on all fronts and co-create an abundant future.
I’m sure we can do it. All in our own way.
Here are ten Illumination writers whose work I enjoy. In no particular order and I could have picked dozens more! They’re diverse in subjects, continents, and color. And all very much worth checking out. Keno Ogbo Sana Rose Shin Jie Yong Dipti Pande Chris Hedges Kristen Abram Ryan Fan Charlotte Zobeir Ali Salam Khan Dr Michael Heng.
If you want to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or my website. Or somewhere on this globe connecting to locals who are so refreshingly different than I am…
Thank you, Mike, for adding your wise energy to my words.
Further reading
About travel for mindful souls
About how an abundant future includes our planet