What I Learned from Earning My First $1, Not My First $1,000

The first dollar is sacred.

Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash

I remember exactly where I was when I saw it.

The Medium dashboard was loading.

There it was: $5.03

Just a number that most people would scroll past. But I didn’t scroll. I stared. Something cracked open in me.

That five dollars was more than money. It was evidence that someone, somewhere, listened.

And it told me something I hadn’t let myself fully believe:

You are allowed to dream, and you are allowed to begin.

Before the $5, There Was Silence

When you start writing online, no one prepares you for the echo.

You write with your whole chest. You hit publish. And then… nothing.

There’s no parade or sudden change in the weather. Just a blank screen and a blinking cursor waiting for more.

You tell yourself it’s okay. That growth takes time. But in the quiet, doubt creeps in dressed like logic:

• “Nobody needs your version of this.”
• “There are already ten better writers saying the same thing.”
• “This is probably embarrassing.”