Personally Read and Curated Picks
From “Hand-Picked Articles #50”
Today I spent many hours reading several stories from Technology Hits’ most recent retrospective of stories previously collected by ILLUMINATION. Lately, my practice has been to highlight the titles of stories that I felt earned further attention, and often I have connected comments to the highlights to encourage readers and writer-readers to discover and engage with the stories. As I have not received a single clap or reply to any of said comments, I suspect that the practice of issuing these massive lists of stories, while appreciated by writers, may not be productive for them. So, here I am testing out whether the time I invested today proves productive for myself and the writers whose stories I feature below, not just as a list, but with teasers to hopefully entice readers of this personally curated collection to read the stories I feature.
So, simply in the order that I read them, I hereby praise:
In Why I (Almost) Never Judge Anyone, I had the opportunity to allocate the relevant skill points, Benjamin Carter suggests that “when you feel the urge to judge another person, think of yourself 10 or 15 years ago,” and admits:
God knows I’ve made a heck of a lot of blunders in my past, but I was also given ample opportunity to add points to particular skill trees. Visiting my mother in a psychiatric institution, enduring my own mental illness, caring for my chronically ill partner — my singular path has led me to the point where judging others is indistinguishable from judging myself.
I have previously devoted an entire feature to DMTakeshi’s work:
She writes excellent poems, which just as importantly, are relatable and relevant to any reader. People will not scratch their heads wondering WTF she was talking about.
Today I read a poem that somehow I missed two months ago despite her using my prompt from my creation of over 40 prompts to help writers Illuminate Your Spirit, Food for thought to excite your creativity whether you are theist, agnostic, or atheist:
If you’re a parent, what is your prime responsibility to your children?
Every parent, or person considering becoming a parent, should read her poem:
Jodie Helm writes very meaningful content. Many of her stories contain deep channeled messages from archangels and Jodie’s brief thoughts to help the reader connect the messages to personal and world events. There are many snake oil salesmen on Medium posing as channelers. From my experiences with my channeler (Ane) and our conversations with my spirit guides, which include God (yes I have the guts to say that),
I confidently state that Jodie, and her messages, are the real deal. Here are the last two I have read:
Now for her story from today’s collection, You Gotta Wash the Dirty Laundry, about which I left the following comment in the collection:
Some stories benefit from a primer in the writer’s own words to draw in readers. Jodie said she: ‘wrote about this, because I hope it helps others to put to rest some of their issues, to empty all that excess baggage that weighs you down. I meant it very sincerely when I forgave my dad, but it didn’t have the same meaning or significance it does now that I’ve allowed myself to be angry and resentful toward a man I love, who helped make me the person I am today.’
Does that pull you in? If you are meant to read it, it will.
Of Mark Farnsworth’s
I simply commented in his story, which I highly recommend, “Great story. 10 minutes flew by. Really well done.”
Misty Rae’s title and subtitle tell you all you need to know about this story of trials, tribulations, and hope:
I strongly recommend Ossiana Tepfenhart’s The Glory Of Dave: The Man Who Changed A Bunch Of Outcasts’ Lives, about which I commented:
This is a great read — another 10 minute read that flies by like you are in a bubble outside of time. Some words from the story: ‘Dave was a wonderful but troubled man. And I learned a lot of empathy from seeing the world through his eyes….If you’re a Dave, understand that you’re way more important than you think you are…If you’re the guy who just wants a friend to talk to and hang out with online, and you treat your friends well, you deserve the world. You deserve friends and honestly, it’s just a matter of reaching out till you find the right ones. And trust, people see when you’re a good person to others, even if you think no one is looking.’
Next up is Øivind H. Solheim’s
The Seneca quote is:
“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so, wants nothing.”
Oivind’s take on the meaning of this quote should be required reading for everyone.
Last but certainly not least, here is a wonderful poem by Arthur G. Hernandez:
The poem starts with,
I glance in the mirror and see myself Now dusted with a coat of time.
and works its way to my favorite lines,
No need to relive the mistakes I have made. That was the path laid out for me. No need to pay the price I have paid. Because my best for you comes free
before ending poignantly.
Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think of this collection in a manner that shows that you have read the stories.
In Rama I create, with soul-energy surging through my body, inspiring me and breathing wind into my sails,
.
