Out from Under the Shadows

What happened when the lights went out

Illumination is a publication, located in a place called Medium. It doesn’t have a physical address or a storefront where strangers can walk in and browse. There’s no bell ringing as you enter, no one person to greet you as you come in. It is unlike most places you will ever visit, because no one expects it to be anything other than what it is.

It’s your place.

I didn’t realize how important Illumination was to me, until it wasn’t. Until the lights went dark; the doors locked and barred and a simple red and white sign was posted out front … Closed.

Why was this? What made the lights grow dim and the world appear even more lost in shadows than it had been?

My answer — Acceptance.

The act of acceptance is preceded by recognition. I see you. You are there. You are important.

Illumination made the act of recognition and acceptance come without great sacrifice. Its requirement was simple — Write!

I have been a writer all my life. I have used words as small capsules laden with ideas, hopes and dreams and I have happily sent them on their way to be received by others. Any others. But being a writer, is often like being the wind. You are always there doing what you do, but many times you are not seen.

In Illumination, I was seen.

As a writer, as a craftsman, with ideas and feelings and a skill at putting them both together so that somehow, someway, what I think and feel, ends up inside someone else.

That is the magic of writing. And what magician does not like being in front of a crowd that appreciates their sleight of hand, their facility with cards and rabbits and ability to make things appear out of nowhere.

Illumination is not simply a publication, residing on a platform called Medium. It is a destination. A place to be without physical constraints. To share, without ever touching another. To feel at home, though you have never stepped foot inside.

We all seek recognition, acceptance for who we are and what we do. A family of like-minded people who see us and hear us and understand what it takes, to be us.

That’s why the shadows grew close. A bit of magic was taken away, but has now returned.

Illumination is important, because of its difference. Its willingness to accept and recognize the need for writers to write. To express. To envision a future reality and with words put it into existence. Now, that’s my kind of place.

Come join us. Come write and be seen.

Joe Luca is a published author and writer of children’s stories, short fiction, non-fiction articles, screenplays and poetry. Including Child’s Life, Children’s Playmate and others. Thank you for stopping by.