Writer Focus

The Best Heels to Wear Whilst Declining the High-Paying Job that Robots Probably Already Do

New writer spotlight and update on June writing challenges

What do you like to read about on Medium? I prefer articles that give me a unique glimpse into the world of the writer and exposes me to things I don’t know a lot about. That is why articles on Voodoo curses and the rationale behind turning down a job that seems like a financial coup always catch my eye. I hope you like those as well, because today we have them here!

Each day in June I hope to feature a few articles from writers that have just recently been added to the publication. I am doing this because I want to make a point of welcoming and getting acquainted with the new writers, and doing a feature allows me to read some of their work and pick items that catch my eye each day.

My hope is to get these authors a few extra eyes on their writing and perhaps gain a few fans that otherwise might not have seen their work. If these new-to-Illumination writers don’t have bios yet, we hope they write one soon so we can add it to our growing list:

But until then, my aim is to choose a handful of writers from the ranks of the newly added to Illumination and highlight one of their articles. Then I will have an ask of them afterward (Hint: I will ask that they pay it forward by doing the same thing for other writers).

Plus, an ongoing list of writer challenges follows the feature articles below! So, without further ado:

New Writer Spotlight

Our first writer today is Fabiola Gallerani, Ph.D. who shares the time that she had a full-on voodoo curse placed on her. The would-be cursers employed a message that, in part, suggested Fabiola would “die alone”.

This story relates how a curse probably says more about the fears and insecurities of those that initiate it rather than what it means for the intended recipient. See how a regular person deals with the administration of the dark arts here:

What would you do if you turned down a job proposal, and the employer came back with an offer that doubled the proposed salary? Sounds pretty hard to refuse, and yet Ann did just that, turning down a salaried position in order to chase her passion.

See why there is a lot more at stake than salary and benefits when we make choices about what we do to fulfill our passions:

I think that Stella Macus might be a missing a big segment of potential audience when she qualifies her article by saying that every woman needs to know her heels. Some of us men want to at least know the technical terms so we can follow along when the conversation turns to slinging back the mary janes.

Get your kicks reading this article that makes no mukluk about trainers and makes it all about the heels here:

Once you get your footwear vocabulary ironed out, you will be interested in finding out what the social media influencers are all wearing. But what if that model you follow on Instagram is more of an art project than real person?

Gaby Tefel gives us the scoop on how that social media influencer that is telling you which kitten heels are in fashion this season may not actually have feet, or any other body parts for that matter, in this story:

And finally, a quick bonus article from Tornike Beradze because he does a great job of capturing what it means to be a writer and reader on Illumination. Give him one minute of your time to read his quick and uplifting recommendation here:

Let’s Make a Connection

Next I want to broker an introduction of the new writers tagged in this article and one of our editors and/or writers who has been at Illumination since the beginning (which wasn’t really all that long ago in the big scheme of things).

Writer and Editor Alison Tennent writes on Medium as Besom & Bletherskite. You should go on Slack and ask her why that is the case! Alison is yet another editor that is amazingly supportive of the writers on Illumination and a great asset for questions or insight.

Alison provides us with some observations about how a cashless system of commerce has significant negative impact to the marginalized among us and dispels the myth that “going cashless” is a hygiene issue. Check out her truly insightful piece of writing here:

If you want to connect with me or any of the editors, please consider joining the Illumination Slack workgroup. You can request an invitation to Slack by contacting Dr Mehmet Yildiz from this link. Please type “Request for Slack” on the heading as Dr. Yildiz has many other requests from this link.

I am always willing to answer questions and provide information for anyone. The other editors and writers are as well. Slack is the best way to interact if you have questions.

If you need some tips to get up and running on Slack, this article is a good starting point:

The Big Ask

As promised, if I featured your story here, or are reading this and feel inspired, I encourage you to pay forward the concept of highlighting the work of others.

Please consider choosing another writer (or writers) and creating a story that emphasizes aspects that you appreciate about their work. It could be their style, topic choices, voice, technical aspects of writing, or maybe you just like their profile picture.

I am confident that when you do this you will find that your own writing work gets better. In many ways I believe that the person that brings attention to others’ work benefits even more than the recipient. That is one of the core premises and values of Illumination, and when you engage you will find that you reap dividends. I encourage you to give it a whirl. And, when you do, tag me in your article. I love being exposed to stuff I might not have otherwise seen.

Bonus Gift — The Writing Challenge

There are two types of writers in the world. Those who have experienced writer’s block, and those that will.

One of the great remedies to the question, “What do I write next?” is responding to a prompt or challenge provided by another writer. I personally have benefitted significantly from this and, to some extent, this section is a bit self-serving because I want to have some handy prompts to write about occasionally.

Older prompts

Some older prompts I have been involved in are: If I wasn’t a writer I would…, Self-Discovery during lock down, a funny video prompt, and a musical prompt.

List of New Challenges and Prompts

I am hoping to develop a list of newer prompts with their originators. Send me your writing prompts! Here’s what we have so far:

Kevin Buddaeus

Sarah E Sturgis

If you are participating in or originating a challenge and you want to include it here for people to find, either respond to this article or hit me up on Slack (@timothykey).

Next Group

Tomorrow I will pull from this new group of recently added writers:

Thong Teck Yew Bibhuti Bhusan Jagat, Jasminelilah, Rosa Cherneva, Grazia Tarantino, Sylvain Saurel, Shweta Stormborn, Walid Al Otaibi, Didenur Kazar, Alex Wzorek, Zeshan Shiekh, Simone Imurah, Earnie Painter, Satyendra Rana, Jolanny Lopez, Sneha Devaraj, MUHAMMAD ADIL, Vishal Sharma, Eshal Rose, Typewriter, Megan Holstein, Renad Yuzbay, Maxim Korotkov

If you want me to highlight one of your stories in particular, or have any questions just respond to this story, or better yet, find me on Slack!

Thanks for reading, I am enjoying getting to know all the new writers on Illumination!

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Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.