Blind to All But Love
500! Never in my wildest dreams a year ago would I have imagined I’d be writing over 100 stories in ten short months, and be honored by 500 followers! 515, today — just blows me away.
When I first started posting on medium.com in January ’23, I had no clue what I was doing.
From formatting to links to tags, to how to get followers — no clue. Although I’m probably only a wee bit more clued-in, I think I’ve learned a bit about writing here since then.
One thing stands out —the conventions for following!
At first, I ascribed to the follow-for-follow advice I’d read about by supposedly successful writers on medium.
But then I started to see posts in my email feed, and followers here on my profile page, that either frankly revolted me, or wasn’t anything I was even slightly interested in, or that was some outright really, really, bad writing.
And then there was — is — AI writing that is so obvious all it takes is reading the first sentence to see that you didn’t write it yourself. If you’re posting AI-written stories without editing them at all, you’re just lazy, and it’s clear you’re only looking to make a buck, one of the ‘make money with medium’ folks.
99% of the obviously unedited AI-written stories I’ve seen are sterile, boring, and without heart.
I wouldn’t even call them stories.
And then there are the horror stories, the intentionally-dark and scary stories. Goth, and noir. I’ve had my own share of real dark experiences — I should sit here and read about more of them? I don’t think so.
And the cyber-currency obsessed and the sex-obsessed writings.
Not interested. At all. So sorry.
I think cyber systems are awesome. I love the idea of block chain. But I don’t want to read about it here.
And if you want to celebrate your body parts and intimate relations and blab all over town about them, that’s fine with me — just don’t expect me to read any of it, or follow you, because I. do. not. care. about. it. Not even for one second.
I stopped follow-for-follow.
I started making more time to read more stories. I made a point of choosing carefully the writers whose work I liked — whether they were many-followed or not.
It’s the writing that counts, not the numbers.
Some of the stories are so raw, so real, so heart-filled, and well-thought-out, well-written — yes! I followed those writers.
And soon more people whose writing I loved started following me! Whoa! Now that’s the best!
There are some truly wonderful writers on medium.
Too many to name. Their stories are rich, heart-felt, real accounts of real people.
Stories about art, writing, relationships, entrepreneurship, marketing in new ways; about bad times, good times, thoughtfulness, goodness, badness-turned-good, enterprise, inspiration, new ideas, old ideas expressed in new ways — as well as stories of surprises and unexpected turns that made a hideous event into a miracle of love or safety or sweetness — that’s what I like.
I choose what I like.
I get to do that.
If I don’t follow you, it’s no skin off your back! I’m only one person in a pretty big people-tank. Don’t expect me to follow you if your stories/writings don’t fit into what I personally prefer. You, of course, have the right to exclude anyone you want, as well — including me!
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Thanks for reading — I appreciate it so much. I hope my stories bring you joy, love, sweetness, or inspiration, so you can keep on keeping on doing the Good Work of your beautiful Inner Being.
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Why I Didn’t Follow You
© Angela Treat Lyon 2023
Image: Blind to All But Love
© Angela Treat Lyon 2014