Losing Perspective on Medium

Drawing a line in the sanity sand

Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash

If I can understand anything in life, it’s the ability to lose perspective.

Recently I lost my temper at an Italian restaurant for giving me a creme puff after I ordered a chocolate lava cake.

They refused to refund me because they claimed that the cream coloured abomination was somehow both chocolate and lava.

It actually tasted quite good, but that’s not the point.

Not being believed made me insane.

I let a bunch of morons turn me into a lunatic. A lunatic that throws a public tantrum over a cake.

So yeah, I get it.

Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash

Medium the drug

Things have been getting tense here in Medium-Town.

People are upset at the platform, and upset at each other. Everyones emotional because money and reputation are on the line.

We all got involved with Medium for one reason or another. I got sucked in because of the sexy formatting, but I stayed for the bucks.

We all saw a reliable way to finally make money while writing whatever we wanted. We had reached the promise land.

But after the initial high, people weren’t able to see the reward through all the work.

We’ve lost perspective, and it’s something that’s pretty difficult to get back.

Remember when we just wrote because blogging was cool? We enjoyed the feeling of writing, and had to do it regularly to clean out our brains.

Now someone offers us a couple bucks and we lose our minds? What happened to us?

Photo by Vlad Shapochnikov on Unsplash

The High

We’ve just discovered Medium.

“Oh my god, what have I just discovered?!”

We can’t believe our eyes. All it takes is a couple of likes and we get freaking paid?! How good is that??

I remember when my initial goal for Medium was for a single fan a day. I remember thinking that this goal was months away from being achieved. I slotted that little dream into my year-long plan.

Any money would be amazing.

It’s a lie that actors always tell themselves while making the slow transition from unpaid to paid acting.

They’re having the time of their lives in community theatre.

They’re with their friends, they’re rehearsing and having a blast. Everyone’s dreaming of making even a small amount of money while living it up on the stage.

Even a couple bucks a week would be enough if I’m doing what I love!

Then you get cast doing a tiny part in a big show.

Everyone’s stressed and absolutely no one cares about the sliver of talent that got you there.

The small salary you once spent weeks gloating about suddenly doesn’t get you as far as it once did.

No one is friends with anyone. Everyone is stressed.

From the moment the lights turn on, they begin to darken.

Eventually it’s a job. It feels like a job.

You expect things of your employer you didn’t use to. Mundane tasks weigh on you more than they once did, and you stop being satisfied.

Personally, I blame money. That damn thing rides us until it buries us.

Photo by Drew Patrick Miller on Unsplash

The Low

The high ends, and once it does; writing just becomes writing again.

Once again it’s just you and the computer.

You’re no longer on Medium because it’s the hot new thing you just discovered. You’re now here because despite the highs and lows, you love to write.

Once you let go of what you can’t control, you start to introduce a little balance into your life.

To all those writers out there, don’t give up. Also, don’t just write!

Writing is inspired by life, so go live life!

I’m always maddened by teachers who’ve never done anything but teach.

If you’ve gone from high school to college, then back to school again for your job — what life lessons can you offer your students?

Go and experience life, then you’ll find things to write about. You’ll also find some sweet sweet perspective.

Is a chocolate lava cake really worth a tantrum? Hmmmm maybe, some injustices can’t be left alone.

But you’ll also find that maybe there were some things in life that really weren’t worth all that animosity.

Let’s just live life while we’ve got it. Then write about it.

Forget the rest.