The First Time I Felt a Little Ashamed of Medium
Thinking like a beginner helps put things back into perspective
I have loved being a part of Medium for the last 2.5 years. Even during the abysmal months when my earnings have dipped into oblivion, I have always enjoyed the freedom of expression and my ability to just write.
When low earning months happen my first instinct is to hold myself accountable, realizing I probably didn’t pull my weight that month. It happens and I can’t blame a writing platform for my own performance.
Recently my 73-year-old mother expressed an interest in writing here and yesterday was supposed to be the day I helped her get set up. It didn’t happen for reasons beyond our control but when I arrived at her house to get started she said something that made me cringe a little.
She told me she had spent the previous evening reading advice about how to write for Medium and how to be curated.
My gut reaction was, “Noooooooooooooooooooo!”
First of all, if she was reading about curation, I knew she was reading older articles because curation is no longer a word here. We write for distribution now.
But my initial negative reaction was toward all the hollow advice floating around that simply does not…
