Weekly Update: Boosted Stories on ILLUMINATION-Curated (11–18 Feb, 2024)

I also link to previously boosted pieces for new readers and aspiring writers as examples of exceptional stories

Happy Sunday, dear readers and writers! This is my weekly update of boosted stories from our publications. Since last Sunday 11 exceptional stories were accepted for a boost. I list them below. I also curate non boosted stories frequently as 99% of great stories are not boosted. Here is the latest one.

In addition I feature specific writers introducing their boosted stories and backgrounds to my audience. Earlier today I create this special feature for Dr Joan Naidorf. This my education series to help new writers giving them some handy tips to write exceptional stories and increase the chance of boosting.

As mentioned before, Friends of Medium enjoy such curated content, and new writers find them valuable to improve their skills. I know not all stories will resonate with everyone. But, as ILLUMINATION-Curated covers 100+ topics, I believe there is something for everyone in this collection including previous months. Please enjoy and provide feedback on your favorite stories. I will continue to create weekly updates to inform our readers and support our writers to create more vibrancy on this platform.

I also helped Dr Mehmet Yildiz with administrative duties so we added many new writers today. ILLUMINATION team will onboard them with a welcome pack. In the meantime I introduce them at the end of this post so that you get familiarize with their content and follow their profiles if their stories resonate with you. We support new writers as being a new writer in this vast platform is not an easy job.

For new writers, any story submitted to ILLUMINATION-Curated must align with Medium’s distribution and boosting guidelines like any other publications in our management. Furthermore, we emphasize that the content should resonate with the discerning readership of this publication. We value diversity and variety, which means there are no topic restrictions as long as the stories adhere to Medium’s policies and our values.

Please review our submission guidelines and comprehensive checklist before sending your high-impact and well-articulated stories to ILLUMINATION-Curated.

After reviewing the guidelines, if you believe our service resonates with you, please contact Dr. Yildiz on ILLUMINATION’s Slack workspace. He will give you writer access. He also mentors many writers to increase their chances of boosting or further distribution on Medium.

One of the goals of our publications is to create a collaborative atmosphere and increase engagement rates as much as possible by mingling writers and readers, especially Friends of Medium subscribers who support our writers dearly. If you don’t enjoy collaboration (meaningful engagement with readers and writers) you may miss an opportunity of the large audience we created since 19 March 2020.

Our senior editor Mike Broadly, DHSc dearly supports Friends of Medium by curating interesting stories both boosted and 42 non-boosted collections to give them more options.

With this opportunity, I also want to share an interview Dr Mehmet Yildiz conducted to introduce our inspiring and collaborative writer Gill McCulloch yesterday. You may check out more interviews in his collection since 2019.

Boosted Stories This Week

Writing on the Roof Pernoste & Dahl

How the Election of Barack Obama Changed Race Relations in America William Spivey

What Happened When I Pushed My Body Past the Breaking Point Joshua Mason 🔱

The Chess Match: Employees vs. Companies in the Fast Food Industry Luay Rahil

Exploring Frogs With Transparent Skin Rich Sobel

How Self-Discovery Leads to a More Conscious Parenting Style Gabriela Trofin-Tatár

How to Deal with Painful Emotions from Our Past: Mickey Singer’s Tough Love Teaching David Gerken

If You Don’t Believe in Angels, This Could Change Your Mind Bebe Nicholson

Why Women in Pakistan Are Not Oppressed, But They Thrive Ammara Hassan

Navigating the Maze of Modern Loneliness with Observations and Interactions Jussi Luukkonen – your curiosity guide

Discovering Bratislava: A Captivating Gem in Central Europe Jozsef Kovacs

Boosted Stories Last Week

Finding Comfort in Blocks: How Minecraft Eased My First Time Loneliness and Intense Grief at 17 Aiden (Illumination Gaming)

4 Well-Research Benefits of Trimethylglycine (TMG) as a Methyl Donor Addressing Homocysteine Dr Mehmet Yildiz

MTHFR Polymorphisms or Mutations: Getting Checked to Prevent Cardiovascular Issues Dr Mehmet Yildiz

Do Statins Increase Diabetes Risk? Dr. Julian Barkan

How to Beat Depression With Exercise Dr. Lutz Kraushaar

Techno-Feudalism or Pax Machina Dr. Ali Hechmi Raddaoui

I’ll Never Forget the Lesson I Learned on My First Day of teaching Dr. Daniel H. Shapiro

A New Discovery Reveals How Eating More Protein After Exercise Fuels Muscle Growth Matt Williams-Spooner, Ph.D.

The Beginning of the World Pernoste & Dahl

Enjoying and Making Sense of My Life Beyond Deaf Silence Joellyn Rose Keener, Author of Deaf and Determined

Working Hard and Doing the Right Thing Will No Longer Get You the American Dream Toni Crowe

Design-Wise Clues: The Twentieth Century and Beyond Matthew Bamberg

Understanding Black History in America Requires That One Knows Where “White” Originated William Spivey

Let’s Talk about Atheists and Firm Believers in the God of Abraham Marcus aka Gregory Maidman

How Adult Children Can Boost Their Mother’s Happiness Sean Kernan

I Wrote a Novel: Here Are 5 Laws of Creativity I Learned in the Process Kyle Chastain

Class Is More Determinative of Success and Safety in America Than Race William Spivey

A Ukrainian Woman’s First-Hand Account of Forced Labor in Nazi Germany Oksana Kukurudza’s Sunflowers Rarely Break

Boosted Stories in January 2024

What Car Shows Mean to Me and How They Enriched My Life Aiden (Illumination Gaming)

Vitamin B12 Deficiency Rises, Concerning Me As It Was My Big Problem Dr Mehmet Yildiz

Timing Will Never Be Perfect; Do What You’re Meant to Do Now Vincent Van Patten

A City Mural that Springs From the Heart Rebecca Romanelli

Why Do We Love to Believe Wacky and Weird Stuff? James Alexander, MATheol, MA, PhD

This Teacher’s Act Made Me Look For Him After 43 Years. Am I Too Late? Wendy King

My Bride — Homage Veritas Civis

The Fight Over Return-To-Office Is Getting Dirty Luay Rahil

The Good Clime Retrieves The Sunken Heart — One Mild Allusion To Settle The Harmed Mind — Goodness… The Doctor — Joanie Adams

Finding Your Wat in Cambodia Joan Naidorf

Ballad of 3-Eyed Lou Pernoste & Dahl

Temple Trails Abroad: My Journey Through Balinese Hinduism Somil Gupta

Surprising Life Lessons I Learned from Army Reserve Officer Training Danielle Spinks Earl

On the Regrets of Being a Parent Sean Kernan

Come Take a Peek Into the Minds, Lives, and Fears … of Queers Brian Feutz

Nourishing the Soul in Hungary’s Wilderness Jozsef Kovacs

Things I Miss About the U.S. As an American Living in Paris Jolie Porter

Three Soothing Perspectives on Death Solveig Bjørkholt

My Unusual Celebration of New Years Dr Mehmet Yildiz

How To Safely Transform Dietary Protein Into Healthy Longevity? Dr. Lutz Kraushaar

The Day the Moon Wobbled Over Planet Earth Adelia Ritchie, PhD

Common Medical Myths That Many People Continue to Believe Despite Proof to the Contrary David Mokotoff, MD

Is It Possible to Completely Heal from Covert Narcissistic Abuse? Melissa Kalt, MD

Returning to Tibet to Find Happiness Lorwen Harris Nagle, PhD

What We Learned When My Fiancée Was Hospitalised for Life-Threatening Anaemia Matt Williams-Spooner, Ph.D.

Navigating the Abyss: When a Navy Helicopter Plunged into the Ocean Russell Carr MD

Insider Insights: 10 Guidelines for Excelling as a Patient From an ER Doctor Joan Naidorf MD

Humor Succeeds When It’s Relevant To Your Target Audience Mark Armstrong

What Us Introverts Can Learn From Extroverts (and Vice-a-Versa) Sean Kernan

Defining Spiritual Faith in a Life of Distraction Pernoste & Dahl

When Helping Is Hurting: AI is Hurting Our Students Denise P King

LSD’s Renaissance in Mental Health Treatment Matthew Bamberg

Until Death Do Us Part Jens Peter Olesen

A Personal Account of Live Aid — the Day Musicians United to Fight World Hunger Gill McCulloch

How I Learned to Stop Bullying Myself Leon Macfayden

Evolution and aging: do the dinosaurs have anything to do with human senescence? Eliot Bush

Riley: The Dog Love of My Life Russell Carr

Creativity and Transcendence Patricia Ross

The Year Arrives with a Cancer Diagnosis in the Family Bebe Nicholson

Unravelling Rafflesia- A Most Unusual Parasitic Plant Rich Sobel

Boosted Stories in December 2023

Understanding the Nuances of 4 Types of Obesity Dr Mehmet Yildiz

Gaming, Fun, and Humor: The Lifelines That Rescued Me From Social Media’s Grip on My Life Aiden (Illumination Gaming)

Which Type of Intermittent Fasting is Best for Weight Loss and Health? Matt Williams-Spooner, Ph.D.

Can Companion Robots Solve the Loneliness Epidemic Among Elders? Mark Sanford, Ph.D.

Echoes of Immortality — A Hero’s Final Anthem Donn K. Harris

How I Learned to Meditate Again After a 40-Year Lapse, and What I Get From It Martin D. Hirsch

Does Your Academic Performance Determine the Rest of Your Life? Clarissa Ai Ling Lee, PhD

Lessons From the Frontline: Managing an International, Three-Year IT Integration Project Jozsef Kovacs

Insights from a Scientist with a Poet’s Soul Pernoste & Dahl

What I Want in Life Adelia Ritchie, PhD

2004 Boxing Day Tsunami: Our Dad’s Heart Attack May Have Saved His Youngest Daughter Gill McCulloch

New Years and the Value of Anti-Resolutions Sean Kernan

When Blind Faith Became a Necessity Rebecca Romanelli

Soulful Connections: Finding Meaning in Mammadou’s Childhood Letters Dr Mehmet Yildiz

Thinking Back on an Unsustainable Diet in a 12-Step Program and a Dramatic Weight Loss The Sturg

Soulful Connections: Finding Meaning in Mammadou’s Childhood Letters Dr Mehmet Yildiz

The Real Reason Medicine and Science Cannot Give You Exact Guidelines David Mokotoff, MD

The Artistic Meaning of Images Within Images Lorwen Harris Nagle, PhD

Cats and Copyediting: Using Illustration to Market a Book Mark Armstrong

If You Want to Lose Weight, You Must Lose the Heavy Thinking First Elaine Hilides

My Daughter’s Transgender Identity Didn’t Make Sense Tony Leo

A Glimpse of My First International Travel Somil Gupta

6 Poor Coping Mechanisms Which Made My Trauma Worse Leon Macfayden

What’s So Wrong About Secretly Working Two Full-Time Jobs at Once Remotely? Luay Rahil

Our Family Trip to Beautiful Kalam Valley in Pakistan: A Tale of Beauty and Adventure Ammara Hassan

Do Eating and Breathing Noises Drive You Crazy? There May Be a Reason Elaine Hilides

Adopted Kids Who Feel Worthless Stacey Patterson, J.D.

How I Mastered 4 Essential Requirements to Become a Better Leader and Served My Clients Jozsef Kovacs

Describing the Human Predicament: The Sun, the Clouds and Us David Gerken

Dancing Inside Pernoste & Dahl

Here’s How Money Really Can Buy You Happiness Luay Rahil

Gigantic Genomes and Supersized Salamander Cells Surprise Scientists and Put a Wrinkle in… Rich Sobel

What Happened to Ebonics? Matthew Bamberg

Beyond Blind Spots: A Multi-Perspective Journey Toward Greater Understanding George M Pantazis

Who Is in Charge Here?–How Our Minds Control the Body Dr Emmanuel Ogamdi

Can We Lose Fat and Gain Muscle At the Same Time? Matt Williams-Spooner, Ph.D.

Seeing a Cop In Line At Starbucks Gave Me The Jitters G Correia

Boosted Stories in November 2023

Dying Is the Most Intimate Space We Ever Share Beth Riungu

Mr. Speaker, There’s No Such Thing as a “Bible-Believing” Christian Guy Nave

Recent Discoveries and Potential Breakthroughs in Microbiome Health Matt Williams-Spooner, Ph.D.

If You Eat a Healthy Diet, Save Your Money Because You Don’t Need Probiotics and Prebiotics David Mokotoff, MD

Future Doctors and Nurses Don’t Want to See Patients Dr. Julian Barkan

5 Surprising Links Between Fitness and Photography Zacc Rowlands

An Alternative Lens on Prayer Davor Katusic

Synaesthesia I: A Life of Colors, The Early Years Donn K. Harris

The Gap in Male/Female Life Expectancy Keeps Growing Dr. Julian Barkan

When The Great Himalayas Went Grey on Us, Literally Somil Gupta

Examining the Impact of Rice Consumption on Type 2 Diabetes Prevalence Antonio Segovia, MD.

Shutting Down the Inner Critic to Liberate Your True Self Mark Sanford, Ph.D.

Remembering to Live Pernoste & Dahl

Why Business Organizations Must Implement the Zero Trust Security Strategy and Execute It… David Pui | Digital Transformation Architect

New Discoveries that Redefine our View of Diet, Weight Gain, Exercise, and Health Matt Williams-Spooner, Ph.D.

How to Be Safe in the World of Cybercrime Jussi Luukkonen — your curiosity guide

Why Ban “Divisive” Teachings While Protecting Divisive Confederate Monuments? Guy Nave

Overcoming Post-COVID-19 Long-Lasting Olfactory Issues Antonio Segovia, MD.

How My Grandmother’s Legacy Goes Beyond the Wrinkles Gabriela Trofin-Tatár

Stories Boosted in October 2023

Better and Better and Better Humans Moshe Sipper, Ph.D.

Should Doctors Be Less or More Empathetic? Dr. Julian Barkan

How Cholesterol Levels Impact Your Heart Health Dr. K P Vasudeva Rao

How discovering microbes transformed our understanding of life and health Matt Williams-Spooner, Ph.D.

Four Ways to Balance Your Content Creation Obsession by Clayton Moulynox

Neuroscience Behind Why I Read 1000 Books With My Son Before He Turned 5 Prashansa Gadgil

Can I Connect with My Transgender Daughter as I Connected with My Son? Tony Leo

How Ōura Got the Fitness Geeks and Insomniacs Around Its Little Finger Jussi Luukkonen — your curiosity guide

How Survivorship Bias Colors Our World: Impact and How to Overcome It Sridhar Pai Tonse — Leadgen Coach- Tech Startups

The Unsung Heroes of Hollywood Seda Anbarcı

Hidden Costs of Self-Publishing Alison McBain

More Meaningful Than Any Degree Gail McNulty

Lessons from the Grave Sara Fellers on ChannSpirations and Coincidences

Grandma and God Brought Me Home AJ on ChannSpirations and Coincidences

Facing the Judge and Jury of Your Inner Critic jules — Miz Mindful

The Island Odyssey: A Weeklong Adventure in Rhodes Jozsef Kovacs

Insanity Along the Seine River — Part 1 Shardul Deshpande

Organically Boosted Stories of Dr Yildiz

As mentioned below, Medium curators also directly boost stories without nomination. Dr. Yildiz shared some of his stories, so we added them here as samples to guide our writers.

Here’s How I Train My Brain Daily for Mental Clarity and Intellectual Productivity.

Meditation Can Boost the Cortical Thickness in the Brain and Prevent the Thinning of It

Here’s How You Can Enjoy Your Life More in Better Zones.

4 Reasons We Procrastinate and 10 Steps to Overcome Them.

Six Tips for a Youthful and Healthy Life as We Age.

Here’s How to Make the Nervous System More Flexible and Functional

3 Steps to Regulate HPA Axis and Defeat Chronic Stress

A New Clinical Trial Found a Low-Carb Diet Better Than the Dash.

The Brain Needs 4 Types of Workouts.

The Brain Needs 3 Types of Rest.

How Writers Can Attract More Readers by Using Design Thinking Principles

How to Slow Down Subjective and Objective Cognitive Decline

Here’s Why I Focus on Nutritional Biochemistry Rather Than Diets

Queer Organisms: Nature’s Lesson for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality

Thank you for reading these wonderful stories.

I began featuring writers by analyzing their stories and educating our writers about common patterns that boosted those stories. Here are the first two in his series:

Lessons Learned from Boosted Stories — Episode #1

Lessons Learned from Boosted Stories — Episode #2

I look forward to your stories in all our publications, and we will choose well-crafted, memorable, and impactful stories through our nominators. In addition, Medium curators also organically boosted hundreds of stories from ILLUMINATION, which we plan to share in another collection.

How to access updated submission guidelines

New writers need to review these guidelines before submitting their stories to relevant publications. ILLUMINATION publications do not accept all types of stories anymore. We want all writers to change this perception.

ILLUMINATION-Curated: New Submission Guidelines 2023

SYNERGY: Submission Guidelines 2023

Technology Hits: Submission Guidelines 2023

ILLUMINATION Book Chapters: Submission Guidelines 2023

Readers Hope: New Submission Guidelines 2023

Submission Guidelines: Illumination Integrated Publications

ILLUMINATION Gaming: Submission Guidelines 2023

ILLUMINATION Videos and Podcasts: Submission Guidelines 2023

Publishing and Conduct Guidelines for the Lampshade of ILLUMINATION

Introduction to New Writers Joined Us Recently

Welcome aboard. I added you and followed you so that your new stories appear on my reading feed as a Friend of Medium. I look forward to your well-crafted stories and hope you can post some boost-worthy stories to our publications.

Mil Hoornaert, Nia, Vince Sanderson, Lauren LeGardye, Chaudhry Writes., Runa Heilung, Cecilia Carcamo, Ruled By Venus, CAYVES, Gany Wegner, Tracy.3, Susana Quintal, Dylan JYS, Lia Koffi, Brightbluemind, SF Block, Ala Hamamreh, Sondra Singer — Still Vital, Jan C. McLarty, Nick Luiso, Guy Howard-Willis, I’m a public storyteller/writer, Adam K, Wayne Stelk, PhD, Mara, Steve Dalton, Shilpa Kapilavai, Daan Noppen, Rich LaFleur, Mark E Sharp, Adam Egger, Javad Ramezani, Manavtokas, Sami Ullah Shahzad, The Coaching Project: The Race to Help Humanity, Virginia L. Fuentes, Nathan Forte, Gerard Clyne, Leo Oniki, Sergej Klementinovski, Shaunte Young, Jothi PM, Lucas Núñez González, Christie Sausa, Yashi Srivastava, Marleen Weichler, Jacob MacInnis, Helena Sokovenina, Olga Hincu, Eray Hayrettin Özer, Irshad, Ahmed Atia, Jamon Sin, Rebecca Ruth Gould, Niko Kivelä, Sayak Mondal, FirzandHer2cents, Nivetha Sudhakar Kalaivani, Kate S, Kathleen Curtin Do, Srujani Shrawne, Sparsh Talati, Miebaka Bipibama, Clara Carolin, NRWillick, Lauren Whiteside, James Maebe, Cornellius Yudha Wijaya, Zunaira, Akhilesh Mishra, #vk.lovelace, Céline Libuda, John Henry Patton, Anna Belle ✨, Rick Whitaker, Shoaib Akmal, Silviu-Florin Salomia, Arisha Usman, William Morgan, Love Sarao, Tucker K Sullivan, Rowdy Vass, Lu Robertson, Danny Colpas, Phil O’neal, Gyson Dominic, Sparsh Talati, Tiffany Norman, Judy Wanjiku Jørgensen, Maricela Lara, TOM★LEU, Kim Donat, Chas Newport, Gael T Fernandez, Gabriella Angelidi, Bobby Tequila, Locutius AI (@SatoshiSeasons on Twitter), Miebaka Bipibama, Paul Thomas Swann, Anthony Tran, _Dansplain, MONGE, Jill Fischer, Just Maanuel, Anikatahsin Mist.

Thanks Dr Mehmet Yildiz for adding these writers to our publications during the festive seasons and onboarding them with clear guidance for their success in 2024. Here are the guiding stories new writers can review.

Interviews with Writers of Medium

Curated Writer Bios

If you are interested in joining our editorial team, please feel free to contact our chief editor Dr Mehmet Yildiz, on Illumination’s Slack Workspace.

You may check out the criteria for our volunteer editorial role.

Supporting Friends of Medium Subscribers

One of our goals to create curated collections is to support Friends of Medium, who follow our publications. Dr Mehmet Yildiz wrote about the value of this program and shared his vision, strategy, and tactics to support these members they contribute to the income of our writers four times more than other members. You may review his stories to gain insights.

Importance and Value of Medium Friendship for Writers and Readers

Why I Became a Friend of Medium

Celebrating My Reading Anniversary with My Upgraded Subscription to New Medium Friendship

To support our writers,I also upgraded my account to Friends of Medium and wrote a story about it. I look forward to more and readers to upgrade to FoM subscription to create more vitality in this beautiful platform.

Meet Our New Writers

New writers are welcome to create a BIO introducing themselves from their pen.

Invitation to New Writers

ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications are inclusive and diverse, supporting 26,000+ contributors. Different levels of writers, from absolute beginners to the most accomplished ones, delight our readers with their educative and engaging content.

To join our vibrant publications, please send a request via this link. We will help you gain visibility and succeed as a writer on Medium. Please mention the publication name with your Medium account ID in the request.

ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications include:

ILLUMINATION ILLUMINATION-Curated ILLUMINATION’ S MIRROR ILLUMINATION Book Chapters Technology Hits SYNERGY Readers Hope Illumination on YouTube Illumination Gaming Lampshade of Illumination ILLUMINATION’s Blog EUPHORIA by Dr Mehmet Yildiz

New writers, when you need help please don’t hesitate to contact me on Slack workspace or Discord server. I introduce these services below.

I also enjoy introducing writers on YouTube. So if you are interested you may contact me on Slack or Discord.

Here is some info about Slack and Discords

About Me

I write articles in my field covering gaming, film-making, social media, and design. I am also a YouTuber. Thank you for subscribing to my account to get notifications when I post on Medium. I created a new website to share my content for free and promote stories of writers contributing to my publications on Medium. I also have a Substack newsletter. Let’s connect on Twitter and LinkedIn.

I own two publications on Medium. One for video gamers and another for YouTubers and Podcasters. I also support Illumination Integrated Publications as a volunteer editor and participate in collaborative activities in the Slack Workspace.

Writer applications for my publications can be sent via this weblink. Please add your Medium ID. I also enjoy email marketing using Cliqly, which is my affiliate link.