…and what I plan to do about it

There exists a lot of advice on Medium about how to get every penny out of it to maximize earnings. In short, it all boils down to:

• Write every day
• Don’t write every day
• Submit only to big publications
• Don’t submit to publications
• Follow 150 people every day
• Don’t follow anyone but interact with everyone
• Post only on Medium
• Cross-post with multiple platforms and not just on Medium

…and so on.

I don’t think any of them are wrong. Writers try stuff and they go with what works and creates results. We all have different goals, careers, voices, and styles. …

Its effect on one deeply grateful recipient. How similar is my story to yours?

“A deposit of $2,032.00 has been made to your EDD Debit Card.”

I stared at the text for a long moment. I blinked twice to make sure I read the number correctly. I was afraid to click away from the text in case the figure should disappear.

Fortunately, it remained, even after I went back to sleep and awoke again a few hours later to start my day. It remained when I set up automatic transfers between my unemployment account and my regular bank. It remained when I purchased groceries and for the first time and did not have to recalculate every item I placed in my cart. …

This means you, too.

On Tuesday, October 6, Trump ended negotiations on another coronavirus stimulus bill. The same ones that had been going back and forth since the end of July when the CARES act exhausted, the same ones that spurred him to create the Lost Wages Assistance Program, the same ones that halted when Justice Ginsburg died and he swiftly nominated Amy Coney Barrett to replace her.

Of course, Trump is not the only part of our government. It is built so that he is not the singular actor, yet it remains that so many will fall in line with what he decrees for their own purposes that he is, effectively, the representative of the entire federal government. …

The key is “affirmation,” not “words.”

I love the love languages. I love learning others, exploring mine, seeing how they shift as we grow and change, how our relationships and experiences mold us. How they present in all of our relationships, not just romantic. It helps me understand so much about the people around me.

One thing I don’t love, however, is piece after piece about the Words of Affirmation language. It seems those who speak it the least have the most to say about it. It often falls short for me.

I often get the impression that those who give advice about Words-of-Affirmation-speakers are trying to express something that it isn’t; that it’s about extraversion or soothing anxieties. They describe the surface operations but don’t understand the motivation behind how covertly beautiful and vulnerable this love language can be for those who embrace it. …

The best job… ever!

The attractions industry is unlike any other. It’s exciting, innovative, and full of uniquely-driven people that truly want to make magic happen for others. It can be incredibly rewarding.

As an Old Millennial born in the late 1980s and biased toward valuing experiences over tangible goods, I have to admit there really is nothing like knowing you are able to create something memorable for others the way you experienced it yourself or better. Getting paid for it and doing it every day sweetens the pot.

That magic doesn’t happen by accident. It requires an inordinate amount of planning, preparation, practice, and patience (for the record, the alliteration was incidental but let’s go with it). …

We’re delighted that you have an interest in sharing your experiences with us!

A raconteur is someone who tells stories in a colorful way. When developing the publication, we suspected (and confirmed) that the full word was already claimed on Medium and used that to our advantage. We wanted something that signaled the style of content we publish less than a specific genre or topic. So: we are The Rac.

Our mission is to create a place for quick reads that pack a punch and validate our collective humanity in all areas of life.

Currently, our stories center around work, education, self, grief, and relationships. …

I have taken lockdown orders seriously since they were enacted in Los Angeles County. I try to get all of my weekly shopping done in one trip, have not even bothered with outdoor dining, and do little more to leave the house than take a walk a couple of times a week — which took three months to work up the nerve to do.

With few exceptions such as shopping for a new place to live, I have engaged in only one non-essential social outing; one that was masked, physically-distanced, and outdoors. It has been three months since I have ridden LA Metro, almost five since I last touched another human being, save for one person who seized outside the grocery store on the Fourth of July that needed my assistance. …

Being death-positive can help prepare for the possible worst

From hockey rinks to the Heimlich maneuver

I’m the kind of person who likes to plan and prepare. It’s not as important to me that things go exactly according to plan but rather that there is a contingency if things go awry (and they do). This is likely due to spending ten years in a career that hyper-fixated on plans, manuals, scripting, and above all: the fear of litigation.

I’ve been a ride supervisor at amusement parks, a lifeguard instructor in the Wisconsin Dells, and a comedy club manager, plus a whole lot of interesting stuff in-between that may or may not have involved Zambonis. …