Summary

Brian E. Wish joined ILLUMINATION on Medium due to its inclusive community, growth potential, and the opportunity to write freely, which aligns with his values of diversity, fusion, synergy, and serendipity.

Abstract

Brian E. Wish, a quality engineer and Air Force Colonel with extensive academic credentials, was drawn to ILLUMINATION after being invited by Dr Mehmet Yildiz following his first publication on Age of Awareness. His decision to join and continue writing for ILLUMINATION was influenced by the publication's collaborative team environment, rapid readership growth, and openness to diverse thought. Wish appreciates the synergistic efforts of the publication's writers, the strategic planning that led to his involvement with ILLUMINATION, and the value of reaching even a small audience. He emphasizes the core values of diversity, fusion, synergy, and serendipity as reasons for his commitment to the publication.

Opinions

Wish values planning and research in achieving success, which led to his discovery of Medium and subsequent writing opportunities.
He believes in the power of serendipity that can arise from having a strategic plan.
Wish was impressed by the welcoming nature of Age of Awareness and its 25K followers, which facilitated his initial publication.
The personal invitation from Dr Mehmet Yildiz to write for ILLUMINATION was a significant factor in his decision to join the publication.
He views writing as a team sport within ILLUMINATION, highlighting the cooperative projects and support among writers.
Wish is optimistic about the growth trajectory of ILLUMINATION, anticipating it will become a leading publication due to its collaborative efforts.
The diversity of thought within ILLUMINATION is important to Wish, as it allows him to write on any topic of interest.
The core values of ILLUMINATION—diversity, fusion, synergy, and serendipity—resonate with Wish and are central to his ongoing contribution to the publication.

Why I joined ILLUMINATION

Why I continue writing for this publication.

One time I asked my oldest daughter how many credits she needed to graduate from college. She didn’t know, but was thinking about talking to her counselor some time this semester or next to figure it out.

What? Every day in college I knew exactly how many classes I needed to get where I wanted to go.

I plan my routes. I’m not obsessive and I’m not even particularly detail oriented though I can do details when I need to. But if I’m trying to be successful at something I do the research and figure out what steps I need to take.

As you will see, having a plan can make Serendipity happen.

A couple months ago, I saw a social media post where a friend had written a Medium article, and I wondered how he got published. Once I understood what Medium was, I wanted to post something to Facebook or LinkedIn and have it look good, and Medium was free.

After I started toying with it, I inevitably became interested. I’ve written a handful of articles for publication over the years, and have always wanted to write more. Earlier this year I shopped around an article to several outlets and couldn’t get it published.

I don’t have the time in my life to shop around articles to outlets, most of which are op-eds that wont pay anything anyway.

With Medium, I could suddenly broadcast my thoughts to the world! Or at least to my three followers. But if three people read what I wrote, that’s three more than would have otherwise. That’s three people I touched, three people who heard my voice.

After reading and exploring, I realized that I could expand my audience inside Medium, not just throw stuff out on social media. I tried some of the marquis publications, but it’s the same problem as with ‘real world’ publications.

I ended up at Age of Awareness. The article I was writing fit in there, they had 25K followers, and they weren’t snooty about welcoming new authors.

So why did I start writing for ILLUMINATION? That’s the easy question. Because I was invited. After my very first story on AoA, Dr Mehmet Yildiz reached out to me on LinkedIn and invited me.

Someone not only read my work, but thought it was good. Not just good, but good enough to reach out and invite me into his publication. How could I not give it a try?

I planned to grow readers by writing in publications, put my plan in motion, and created the opportunity for Serendipity.

Why do I continue writing for ILLUMINATION? Three big reasons:

1) The team. I never knew writing was a team sport. We have a slack channel where I lurk and a half dozen collective side projects to increase readership. I don’t have much time to dedicate to helping out, so I stick to doing a few retweets and social media posts. But if our hundreds of writers all do the same thing, supporting the publication and each other, the Synergy generated will reach a critical mass. Plus, we have other cooperative efforts, like a slack channel to get feedback on drafts. Fusion.

2) Readership. Sure, other publications have a lot more readers. Illumination, however, is growing by hundreds of followers a day. It’s gained thousands of followers in a couple months, and if we continue to work together to promote our writing it will be one of the big guys in a few more months.

3) Other writers. I prowl through ILLUMINATION and always find something of interest. The publication welcomes Diversity of thought, unlike some pubs that focus on their channel. I can write whatever I want.

Why do I stay? It can be summed up in our core values.

Diversity, Fusion, Synergy, and Serendipity. That’s why I stay.

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Brian E. Wish works as a quality engineer in the aerospace industry. He has spent 29 years active and reserve in the US Air Force, where he holds the rank of Colonel. He has a bachelor’s from the US Air Force Academy, a master’s from Bowie State, and a Ph.D. in Public and Urban Administration from UT Arlington. The opinions expressed here are his own.