I Don’t Miss Medium

Guess what? I’ve NOT been writing on Medium for at least three months, and I don’t miss it even in the least. You might conclude by this admission that I’m not a professional writer, but that would be wrong.

I’ve written for $$$ for many a year, and I’ve also donated my services for a nonprofit and various other causes. I know how it feels to do a decent job and turn in a prose story that treats both sides of an issue fairly and objectively. I also know how it feels to write well and have a magazine or journal turn down your work for no conceivably good reason beyond the fact that they either changed their mind about the suitability of your idea or they don’t know what they really want in a story and hope maybe you can keep re-inventing your prose until it grabs them.

After about 20-plus years of writing professionally, I’m actually sick of it. I’ve been wrung dry, and even writing humor is beginning to dim. I’ll never be a John Colbert or pro comedian so I may never craft another humor piece again. It’s the world’s loss, but I’m getting used to disappointing the world since I officially retired.

So why am I writing today? Mostly to thank the people who (if I’m to believe the Medium feedback I receive daily) are still venturing to my writings and plodding through them good or bad. I’m amazed that anyone at all is still following me now that I’ve kissed off Medium as a rotten venue for anyone trying to earn at least some money per month. I’m so amazed that I’’ve gotten responsible and wish to extend my gratitude to those who during these past few months have read any of my prose.

As an update to my continuing battle with chronic depression, I wish to inform the few people interested in my writings and/or welfare that I stopped cold taking all my meds prescribed by the Silent Shrink. I would NOT suggest anyone else doing what I did. It was horribly distressing and felt like I had a bad flu for three weeks or so. But I was mad at my doctor and the pharmaceutical industry for making promises they couldn’t keep. No matter how many pills I added to my cocktail, it seemed I still remained profoundly depressed almost to a suicidal degree. I stopped taking my meds because I thought there might be a chance that I’d improve my mood or at the very least remain the same.

The result was I felt great that I didn’t have to take pills every few hours, but I still felt lousy. So the Silent Shrink and I invented a new medical protocol. Now I take a few pills for a few days and then get off them, only returning to the medicine cabinet at a later date if I start sliding back into depression. It’s not a great compromise, but if it works, I’m still ahead in that I don’t have to go to the drugstore as frequently to renew my prescriptions and I don’t feel as tied to drugs as previously.

That about updates you on how I feel. I have written one humor piece that I might try to hawk on other venues, but if I fail, it may appear eventually on Medium. So again, thanks so much for staying with me you people who followed me despite my hatred of and fear and loathing of Medium and its rules and inability to reward sincere freelancers for pounding the keys.

I may yet return, but I wouldn’t count on it!