Writing On Medium Has Changed My Life In A Big Way

Reflecting upon my magical mystery tour to 500 followers and the journey of learning to write — like a spiritual awakening, an endlessly joyous ride of ebbs and flows

The moment had arrived — time to publish my first article on Medium. I navigated the mouse over the green button that says Publish. My fingers felt cold and frozen. Should I click? What if it bombs? Damn, I’ll make a fool of myself. Who am I kidding thinking of myself as a writer?

That was 9 months ago — August 2020. Deciding to join Medium as a member in September[1][2] was exciting yet intimidating. After a little less than a year of WordPress blogging, I discovered the platform. My first impression was, “It’s a jungle out there!”

I knew that building an audience and driving traffic to my stories was going to be a slog, but I felt prepared and ready to take the dive. I was not in a hurry and I had little to lose. After a leisurely stroll, I was certain this was going to be my ‘thang’.

Writing on Medium can change your entire life. It changed mine. When I first came on board, I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular. I just wanted to write. I wanted to throw whatever the hell was on my mind out there and to know that someone somewhere will read my stuff. I was on the path of personal growth, to discover myself and to find fulfilment in life. Fast forward to today, I can truly say that this has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

I have gained confidence

I’m not a brilliant writer. Far from it, but I love words. There’s something surreal about words when combined into phrases, weaved into sentences, transformed into paragraphs, and alchemized into tapestries of poetic prose that works its magic on me to where it leaves me totally and spellbindingly captivated. Both as a writer and a reader, that process enters my thoughts and numbs my mind like the most powerful drug. That’s what a great book or article does to me. I want to produce that kind of drug for me and my readers.

Diligently, I showed up to work my craft every day. In the beginning, it took me 3 days to produce a piece and by the end of it, I felt completely drained — I had poured all of myself, my heart, mind and soul, into the keyboard. I didn’t care. I kept pushing to get my work out. It was over 6 months later that I found out many of my earlier works had been curated long before I had any decent-sized audience. That notion wasn’t even on my radar. It was a ridiculous and amusing discovery.

Looking back, I was glad it happened in that order. Perhaps the Universe was trying to keep me in check to prevent my head from inflating like a balloon so I would focus on improving my skills. A drop here, a trickle there, my confidence bucket slowly filled up. I saw progress and the bots are picking up my work so I must be on the right track, I think.

I learned everyone is going through something

I’ve never been comfortable sharing much about myself. I’ve always been protective about everything in my inner life. I’m happy to listen to your struggles but don’t ask how I’m doing because I don’t share — not to my family, not to my friends, certainly not in public.

When I came to Medium, I saw how openly everyone talked about themselves. It’s almost like a mega confession camp. Everyone spilt out what society feels should be condemned to toil in their darkest dungeons of being sick as one's secrets, and the writers seemed not to give two hoots nor care a whit about what others may think. I was beyond flabbergasted.

Sure, I knew on some level people benefited from opening up, I just never thought it was for me. To see how most everyone embracing vulnerability and putting themselves out there was so liberating. Our experiences don’t have to define who we are. Bad things do happen, but there is no need to camp there. By shining the light on certain issues, others who are going through similar experiences can relate and find hope. Knowing that makes my life suck a little less.

Isn’t that what writers do? We put our voice out there to keep it real, to share stories of struggles and victories because life for everyone has never been a straight line, but rather a squiggly, uncertain journey.

If what I do impacts others in a positive way and brings about tremendous value, it shows that life is really about something much larger than me and my own little world. I can create a ripple effect that goes far beyond the lives I touch, and that is a great satisfaction.

Some people on Medium changed my life

I have great admiration for those who make it because it shows they have something I’m still in the process of discovering. They continuously produce great content people love to read.

I’ve never written anywhere before Medium except those less than two handfuls of months of occasional WordPress blogging. I had no clue about the hype over the number of followers and never really took the time to find out. Someone told me as my followers increase, so will my views.

I saw the correlation back then, so I set the first milestone to reach 500 followers. It was slow, but I arrived recently. I was over the moon. This marked my first small success of many more to come, and nearly coincided with my discovery that unbeknownst to me Medium had chosen over 20 of my stories for further distribution in the first three months of 2021! That blasted me into an orbit where I could visit the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter!!

With the continuous changes on the platform, many have said that followers count is nothing more than a vanity number. I’ve never come to the point where I should concern myself over that, at least not yet but what’s really cool is this journey has opened the way for me to connect with some great writers and readers who have eventually become friends.

I’m not a people person, that’s just me. People exhaust me and I find social interactions awkward, overwhelming and anxiety-provoking. I don’t care if people find me boring and avoid me because I’d much rather retreat into solitude. For an introvert that does not create loneliness, but rather a heavenly haven from the chaos of life.

Yet I count myself lucky to have made some new friends who are genuine with awesome personalities. We can disagree without drawing the battle lines. They assure me I’m not crazy or weird in my struggles. Despite our differences, we’re able to focus on common grounds that unite us. I treasure those connections.

I found out that writing is my ‘thang’

I can’t recall when I had finally settled in, but nowadays I look forward to my solitary wordplay, spending more time with my laptop and an idea in my head. Writing is an outlet. I’m able to let my joys and tears flow out as words on the screen with the complete satisfaction I receive while growing my craft. Writing on Medium provided me with the channel to rise above my circumstances rather than stewing in frustration or disappointment.

I know I’m not alone when I say this — Medium has changed my life, and I’m forever grateful for this journey which I believe has only just begun. It’s been an unbelievable few months of a great adventure. I don’t deny there are lots of challenges that are currently going on. No matter how big or small it seems right now, I continue to remind myself it’s just a phase I’m going through. I’m determined to play the long-term game. Maybe it’s going to take a while, but there’s always a win somewhere. I might not be where I want to be yet, but I’m getting closer every day.

I hope it’s the same for you too. I want you to know that your presence here is an inspiration to many. You do not know whose lives you’re touching with every word, every article, and every comment you’re putting out. The world needs people like you. You were meant for something worthwhile, and that’s exactly why you’re here.

In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the ride because one day I know I’ll look back and be thankful that I stuck it out, together with you, dear reader and colleagues.

Notes:

1. As synchronicity would have it, that’s the same month as Marcus, my mentor extraordinaire, and we connected shortly after.
2. My profile page states that I became a member just last month, April 2021. That’s because I could not edit my payment details and had to cancel the account to rejoin. That’s how the system lost 90% of my status here.