1,000 Followers Celebration!
I have a love/hate relationship with self-congratulatory posts. On one hand, I worked my ass off writing, networking, social media posts…
I have a love/hate relationship with self-congratulatory posts. On one hand, I worked my ass off writing, networking, social media posts, running Discord communities, and more. On the other hand, my religious beliefs (Taoism) teach I shouldn’t be ‘showing off’ or even drawing attention to the work I’m doing. I also understand as soon as this article is published, I’ll lose a few followers which means I’ll have to cross the milestone all over again. So, like all humans, I’m a walking contradiction and I’m ok with that.
I’ve crossed the 1,000-follower milestone on Medium after four months and I wanted to write a quick thank you to a few special individuals. No, I won’t be name blasting all 1k of you just for the views, but I will name drop a few writers and friends who helped me along the way. I don’t like it when Medium articles just list people in a giant block, so let’s instead take a moment to reflect on each person.
Oscar Soto ⚡I’m not sure where I’d be without this guy. He gave me a community to join (Medium Writers Club), allowed me to be an editor (HTIYFN), taught me everything about Canva, and introduced me to running a successful Medium publication. Most of my knowledge about this entire platform comes from him or the community he created. So, a huge thank you to Mr. Oscar Soto!
Simon Kupfer - aka the Stoic Philosopher Prodigy. If I could have been this talented at such a young age, I may have ended up with a different career. Simon is smart, wise beyond his years, and deeply motivated. He created my website for me, continues to be a star writer for my publication (The Taoist Online), pulled thousands of views from social media, and is currently writing a book all while being a teenager. I can’t even get my teenage daughter to get dressed on time let alone have her write, design, and self publish a book on ancient Greek philosophy. So, to you good sir, I salute you.
Robin Wilding 💎 Yes, that Medium hack herself! Ms. Robin has been nothing but friendly, courteous, sharing, inviting, and an all-around a great friend. I’ve been able to vent frustrations, (cough) borrow an idea or two (cough) and meet a tremendous amount of other extremely talented writers all because of her. She continues to celebrate my success, heap praise in my direction which I rarely deserve (but gladly accept) and is the first career writer I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. Thank you so much!
Lightning round, go!
nathanlovestrees - My partner in crime and an O.G. member of the TTO crew!
Debra Groves Harman - One of the first writers I wanted to read everything they wrote. I swear her stories are the most engaging, insane, and thrilling I’ve read since I joined Medium. And thanks for the nomination, again!
Nanie Hurley 🌿 - Mrs. Environment over there who deserves so much more than she gets. If you care about our planet, or veganism, everyone please go read everything you can from this terrific writer.
Jenny Lane - How do you put emotions into words? I’m not sure, but Jenny does. A truly creative individual, she has a talent I’ll always aspire to obtain. A free flowing, beautifully crafted, excellent narrated poetry and storyteller, she is another member I read every single article she posts.
Last, but not least, K3AN - My 1,000th subscriber. Even though I can’t verify if you were my 1,000th subscriber, if you hadn’t come by and subscribed, none of this would have ever happened. I’d still be at 999… maybe. I mean, it’s not like anyone else could have clicked that button when you did.
Nope, it was always going to be you. It was destiny that brought us together. Just think of the millions of actions across all of history that had to happen in exactly that order just so you could click that follow button at exactly the right time to become who you are today - my 1000th follower.
To you, my long-lost sibling from another mother, I will always cherish the days we spent together - staring at our screens, typing nonsense into Discord. All the memes, all of the late nights. Just waiting until the right moment to click follow so that you could have this tremendous honor. Your name will live in my mind and heart forever and I will count the seconds until we talk again. Always.
So, there you have it! If I left out anyone, I’m sorry! Just know I could have kept writing forever with names of people who helped, have been kind, or inspired me to keep going.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart and the depths of my soul.
