Mike’s Favorite Stories on ILLUMINATION Publications — #1
I lost my writing mojo, but I still love reading, editing, and curating on Medium.
Dear Reader,
I initially (12 months) engaged with Medium as an avid reader and found immense value in the platform. Upon an invitation from my mentor, Dr Mehmet Yildiz, I began contributing my life lessons as a writer with great enthusiasm and volunteered to be an editor for ILLUMINATION publications. In my retirement years, these activities will keep me active.
I noticed considerable progress in my writing endeavors during the first three months. However, in the fourth month, an article addressing Medium volunteering on behalf of our editors seemed to have significantly decreased the visibility of my stories. I assume the algorithm did not want me to write about Medium.
Here is the story that seems to put me in the distribution jail!
Consequently, it seems that the Medium algorithm may no longer distribute my stories to my audience and followers of the publications, prompting me to reassess the value of investing extensive time in writing when readership is limited.
As an illustration, the single story I crafted this month, a piece in which I poured my passion and insight to inform and inspire readers, garnered only a few views from direct links from the Slack workspace. My 1.1K followers did not get a chance to see this important story.
It’s baffling to me why the thousands of followers of the Illumination publications seem unable to access our stories. I’m not alone in this observation; numerous writers and readers I’ve spoken with share a similar disappointment regarding this situation.
This experience can be incredibly disheartening for any writer, and it instills in me a profound sense of empathy for newcomers who similarly receive no visibility for their work on the platform.
This subsequent decline in readership led me to reconsider my writing efforts, as it appeared that the algorithm was hindering the reach of my work, generating minimal views unless directly shared via external links from our Slack workspace.
Until there is a positive shift in the algorithm’s treatment of my stories, I plan to scale back my contributions and test the reception of new content intermittently.
I have lost my writing mojo. However, my passion for reading, editing, and promoting noteworthy stories remains undiminished.
As a result, I’ve chosen to redirect my efforts by amplifying and sharing stories from the Illumination publication that have resonated with me, aiming to enhance their visibility and offer readers access to these exceptional pieces.
Over the past fortnight, ILLUMINATION-Curators have introduced 15 new collections, a service that has garnered positive feedback from both our writers and readers. You may check them from these links:
Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5, Volume 6, Volume 7, Volume 8, Volume 9, Volume 10, Volume 11, Volume 12, Volume 13, Volume 14, Volume 15, Volume 16, Volume 17
This initiative has proven mutually beneficial, offering many reading options for all involved. As an avid reader, having personally reaped the benefits of these collections in expanding my reading choices, I’m eager to contribute to this endeavor.
Our lovely editor friend and the media coordinator of Illumination publications, Aiden (Illumination Gaming), has graciously guided me in compiling these stories into lists. He has been doing it for a long time.
While the task is straightforward, it demands a significant investment of time. Nonetheless, I am enthusiastic about dedicating my time to this activity, recognizing its value and its enrichment to our community of writers and readers.
Without further ado, here are the great pieces I enjoyed recently. Please consider sharing this list on your social media so that more readers can find them.
You May Enjoy My Favourite Stories from ILLUMINATION Publications Today
Queer Organisms: Nature’s Lesson for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality Dr Mehmet Yildiz
The Day I Officiated at a Lesbian Wedding Cedric Johnson, PhD
Can I Connect with My Transgender Daughter as I Connected with My Son? Tony Leo
Dealing with Unintended Embarrassment in the Aging Years Mark Sanford, Ph.D.
The Day I Gave Up on My Hometown Jack Kammer, MSW, MBA
AI-Songlines for Corporate Data Dr John Frederick Rose
Press Reset Buttons to Transform Your Life With Second Chances Dr. Preeti Singh
How You Can Still Achieve Life Success When You’re Chronically Unwell Dr Ruth Miller-Anderson
Better and Better and Better Humans Moshe Sipper, Ph.D.
3 Tips to Simplify Writing a Literature Review Dr. Hector Vasquez
What is Blue Zone Living? Perhaps my New Way of Living Dr. Tracy Davis
The FDA Fast-Tracts Another COVID-19 Booster While Preparing to Take Away Your Favorite Cold… David Mokotoff, MD
Why I Was Destined to Be a Medical Doctor in Nepal Dr.Ramesh Chaurasiya
How Cholesterol Levels Impact Your Heart Health Dr. K P Vasudeva Rao
The Addiction You Didn’t Know You Had Alex Parker, Ph.D
Suicide Awareness, Prevention, and Men’s Mental Health. Jonathan Isbill MS, RD, LD
Serendipity on rainy day walk Dr. Seema Patel (PhD)
Homophobia: The Fear of Skeletons Inside Our Own Closets Kensu Fetsani
Everyone Thinks Themselves As An Artist — Few Ever Remain For The Century Afterwards; Most Flicker… Joanie Adams
I’m About To Dispel Some Problematic Notions About Illumination The Sturg
The YouTube TV App Might Display Fewer Ads Soon Aiden (Illumination Gaming)
The Power of Nutrition for Health: Insights from a Certified Nutritionist in Norway Elin Melaas
A True Account of my Interaction With an Extraterrestrial Being Rebecca Romanelli
The Revolving Door in UK Politics Peter Ling
Things You Won’t Give a F*ck About in 5 Years Tim Denning
The Unsung Heroes of Hollywood Seda Anbarcı
More Meaningful Than Any Degree Gail McNulty
How Survivorship Bias Colors Our World and Causes Dissatisfaction and Frustration Sridhar Pai Tonse — Leadgen Coach- Tech Startups
Clipped by Chance Andy Williams
How Ōura Got the Fitness Geeks and Insomniacs Around Its Little Finger Jussi Luukkonen — your curiosity guide
The Risks of Prematurely Pedestalizing in Dating Eleni Stephanides
The Illumination of Albert Camus, Zen, and the History of Absurdism Lewiscoaches
In Pursuit of Wellness Dee
The Remarkable Thing That Happened When I Stopped Blaming My Dad Kelly Crawford
I Fell in Love After Getting Married. But Not to My Husband. Sushmita Singh
The Island Odyssey: A Weeklong Adventure in Rhodes Jozsef Kovacs
5 Hidden Costs Associated with Amazon FBA Hardly Anyone Talks About Rishav Jain
Four Ways to Balance Your Content Creation Obsession Clayton Moulynox
There Is No Such Thing As A Holy War Steve QJ
We’re Again Confronted with a Choice of “Nonviolence or Non-Existence” Guy Nave
My Favorite Medium Writing Tips I’ve Learned Over The Years 𝑨𝒌𝒉𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝑨𝒍𝒊
The Unusual Adventure Ahsan Cheema
The Legacy of My Late Father: A Treasure of Wisdom Ammara Hassan
Here’s A Million Dollars Brian Dickens Barrabee
In the Middle of the Fire Amy J Garner
How to Make Small Improvements That Lead to Big Results Anup kotur
Sunlight and Cardiac Rhythms: How the Sun Affects Your Heart? Your Health Master.
Asparagus — Nutritional Riches, Delicious Flavors, and Fascinating History Ashllyn T.
Sand Maidens and Glass Crones Block Wife
My Grand Ma’s Welcome Drink Surekha Chandrasekhar
A Vegan Tale: Respecting All Meat Eaters, I Am Not Superior ✅ Doc Samurai Sam
It’s Not You, It’s Your Brain That Craves Chocolate! Aleksandra M. Killy
Yuka; The App You Need Libby Shively McAvoy
Crafting Your Legacy: The Great Debate Between Job Stability and Job Hopping Bryce Barrows — Career & Transformational Coach
Swing! Swing! Swing! Carol Townend
Happiness is the Key to Success, Not the Other Way Around. Catherine Louise
Conversations of Kindness Cathy Joseph
Potpourri for Twenty-Three Cathy Strine
Are Potatoes Truly Couch Potatoes Charlene Ann Mildred
Mismatched Socks & Social Norms Chloe
At What Age Can You Lose Your Memory and Why? Christina Sponias
Vanishing in the Virtual: The Dark Grip of Social Media Obsession CJ Coop
Of Godlings And Giants Philip Writes
What Separates You from the Divine is Attention Cosmo Zen
How We Subconsciously Choose Heartbreaking Relationships Craig Youngkrantz
Give Yourself a Hug Deni Sahaya
Financial and Personal Well-being Don Martin, storyteller
Dear Brain: This Poem is For You Emily is typing…
100 Mind-blowing Things You Need To Know About Brain Machine Interfaces Fahri Karakas
3 Reasons Why I Find iPhone 15 A Worthy Upgrade Francis K
Exploring Lisbon: Walking around the Santa Maria de Belém Parish Gabriela Trofin-Tatár
3 Reasons Why Your Content Isn’t Getting Read Harsha Gurnani
Beyond the Veil Harvey Ross
14-year-old Chinese teenager have developed a web version of “WIN12” Imdodd
7 Inventions Will Save 2 Million Moms and Babies by 2030, According to Bill Gates Ivylockewrites
What If Your Life Was A TV Series? JamieWrites
Steve Jobs Would Be Ashamed At Apple’s Prerecorded Covid-Style Keynotes Jano le Roux
Life Was a Bad Dream Until I Mastered This Jasbeer Singh
Lying to Job Candidates Is a Very Bad Idea! Jeannette Seibly
Fall is Close, We Will All Be Spending More Time Indoors At Home Now John Whye
Falling from grace of TV News India: Hopes left for While we Watched movie Ravish kumar Kallol Mazumdar
Why True Prosperity Is Measured in Experiences, Not Possessions Kay Yoon
A Nostalgic Exchange Kevin Byrne
I Opened A Time Capsule From 2003 — Here’s What I Found Lacey Dearie
Caregiver Laurie Perez
Create Your Own Writing Retreat Laurie Wolt
It Was Quite a Shock When the “Mamasan” Wheeled Her Cart into the Boy’s Restroom When I Was in… Lawson Wallace
I Didn’t Want the Stupid Change, Then This Happened K. Joseph
Muslim Women’s Veiling Lisa Spray
If You Really Want to Help Someone, Keep Your Thoughts and Prayers to Yourself Lucas Hawthorne
An Update On My Current Journey Luke Tarling
Discovering Ignorance: The Key that Unlocked Human Progress Mashrur Arafin Ayon
How to Know if You are The Exception Michael Zwierzanski
At the Grave of a Medieval Minstrel Nicola DiSvevia
Debunking Market Saturation Fears: Dive In, The Water’s Fine. [Timeless] Priyashaa Ghos
It’s Monday. . . The Favoured One! pst tomowo
The Voice Of Freedom Quentin Plume
4 Keystone Habits Your Future Self Will Thank You For Starting Today Raghunathan Srinivasan
3 Things That Can Erase Chronic Unhappiness For Good Real Self-Caring
Superpowers of Fruits and Veggies — You Won’t Believe Rma Kaushal
Lessons from the Grave Sara Fellers
From Jungle Secrets to Laser Insights: The Maya’s Untold Tale Sage Pen
“7 Questions to Ask Yourself,, Samshe Alam
My Mother is Trying to Kill Me Sanjay Singhal
Patience and Perseverance Shameem Anwar
“Name Game: Its Like Peeling An Onion Shanté Nixon
Fear And Anxiety Can Transform Into High Performance Spiritualfreak
8 Ways to Have Fun with Food Suresh Sangwan Saru
As, because, since, for — What should you use? SURYASH KUMAR
Would the US Democrats be a conservative party in the EU? Transatlanticism
62 Candles To Blow Tyler Woden
Saving Money Won’t Make You Rich (Here’s Why) Umar Stelvio
Russia And Its Violent Society Veronika Kaufmann
Why Writing is ‘Pumping Iron’ for Your Brain Wesley van Peer
The Road, A Poem About Road Safety writingelk
Three Fundamental Things That I Am Doing, Hoping To Have A Guilt-Free And Regret-Free Future Vivek Naskar
And I want to finish this first collection with a topic close to my heart, as I explained in the story.
Understanding Ischemic Heart Disease and How to Stay Heart-Healthy Mike Broadly
Thank you for reading these stories, engaging with the ones that resonated with you, and sharing them on your social platforms.
If you want to explore more from my life lessons? I compiled the links in a list to make it easy to find for you. Your feedback is important to me.
About Me
I am a retired scientist in his mid-70s and a new writer on Medium, but I am not new to writing. As a giveback activity, I volunteered to be an editor for Illumination publications, supporting many writers recently joining Medium like me.
Connect with Me
If you want to write for these publications, you may send your Medium ID via this weblink. I will be happy to read, publish, and promote your stories. You may connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Quora, where I share stories I read. If you want to get my stories in your inbox when I post, you may subscribe to my account. I don’t spam anyone and don’t want anyone to do it to me.
Meeting New Writers
You may need to create a BIO if you are a new writer. As an altruistic activity, my good editor friend Aiden compiles these writer bios and promotes them. You can learn from this story. Meet ILLUMINATION Writers from Their Personally Penned Biographies
If you are willing to write for our publications, you may check out our updated submission guidelines.
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