Stories From My Heart

Self-selected Top 5 Stories

This post is a collection of my Top 5 stories, in response to the challenge by Dr Mehmet Yildiz.

These are not necessarily the ones with the most engagement or which earned the most money. Instead, all of these articles are simply close to my heart, for one reason or another. I loved writing all of them, and I hope they give you the same joy (or at least a new perspective) as you read them too! :)

1] The Delights of Curation:

Honestly, I joined Medium for amazing voices, unique perspectives, and unbeatable learning. Making money was never a priority, and remains so even though my stories have begun to pay for the membership and some more!

Initially, I created my own publication since I hated the hoops to get accepted to larger publications. That was before I discovered “Illumination”, of course.

I work full-time, so finding time to write or other passion projects is tough. This article was a summary of tricks that worked for me. Plus, at the time I had just about started posting consistently (once a week) on Medium, so getting this story curated in two topics fueled my drive for writing, and boosted my confidence.

2] Women Leadership & Feminism:

Promoting women in tech, evangelizing diversity, and getting more women in leadership positions are topics very close to my heart. So when Sophia Amoruso, CEO of media conglomerate #Girlboss stepped down from her position, it shocked and disillusioned me. I loved her book #Girlboss, her networking site, and considered her an amazing role-model.

The official statement was that a change in leadership was required due to decimated revenues from Covid-19. But seriously, who isn’t affected by the pandemic. This led me to write the article below and I have been blown away by the responses and engagement, both on Medium and other social media platforms. My connections on LinkedIn went up by 100 in the one week this article has been live, as folks reached out to say how much the piece resonated with them! :D

3] A Feeble Attempt at Humor:

Sometime in May, I attempted a humor writing challenge to force me out of my comfort zone. I got some good feedback, although my piece never made it to even the Top 50 list.

Still, I decided to post in on Illumination and was delighted at seeing how well the article performed. This satirical piece seems to have resonated across multiple audiences! I received 10+ fans for this article within 2 days, which was surprising too! I realize I will never reach the heights of P.G. Wodehouse or Scott Adams (Dilbert comics), but glad to see such positive results from trying something new.

4] Leadership & Career Advice:

I formally (and informally) mentor many recent grads and young professionals, and this article resulted from advice doled out hundreds of times in the last few years.

Experience has shown me that first impressions matter and “impostor syndrome” can affect professionals at all levels. Weirdly, opportunities seem to come more easily who “seem” like leaders, so it makes sense to give yourself the best chance of success. Some folks might think this feels Machiavellian, but they are not, and they work! :)

5] Writing Prompts:

Writing is hard. Coming up with ideas is even harder!

However, a majority of all successful authors suggest writing daily as a proven method to build your writing and creative muscles. The article below provides 25 prompts to help you build this daily habit. Surprisingly, it is also my Top 5 stories from a “views” and “read ratio” perspective.

If anyone of you suffer from writer’s block, try attempting one of the prompts for 5 minutes! You will definitely return to your original task with renewed vigor and ideas!

A final note to all the brilliant writers reading our publication. If you have not done so, please consider sending in your own self-selected stories. Feel free to tag me or any of the editors, so we can feature you on our list.

You can view a sample here for inspiration:

Another curated collection is available on this link -

Until next time, Adieu!