Dear Readers,

We are thrilled to present a diverse array of narratives submitted to ILLUMINATION today. This digest features a selection of stories from our talented contributors.

We hope you enjoy this collection.

Tree Langdon

#### Introducing the Illumination Fiction and Poetry Club Join the conversation on medium.com.

Thewriteyard

#### Wonderful Words from Illumination Writers Editor’s choice from recently published works on medium.com.

Dew Langrial

#### Editor’s Choice — Top 10 Highlighting the best narratives from ILLUMINATION today on medium.com.

Alison Tennent

#### What Is Medium Good For? A writer’s perspective available on medium.com.

Michael Patanella

#### The Value Found In Vulnerability Discover hidden gems in what we often conceal on medium.com.

Mia Verita

#### My Life Is A Leaning Tower A poem featured on medium.com.

Kathryn Staublin

#### 3 Ways Gender Inequality is Being Reinforced in Schools Understanding subtle forms of oppression on medium.com.

Rose Bak

#### Are You Hitting the Stores for Black Friday This Year? Insights into the evolution of holiday shopping on medium.com.

Vee Goldman

#### Thoughts Reflections on the flow of thoughts on medium.com.

Rob Cyrier

#### Why Writing Letters to Your Spouse Will Change Your Relationship Forever 10 ideas to express your feelings through writing on medium.com.

Charlotte Brown

#### The Most Liked Person I Know Just Shared His Secrets With Me Insights shared on medium.com.

Vinita Ramtri

#### Give It A Try A poem addressing imposter syndrome on medium.com.

Tca Venkatesan PhD

#### Silence For Its Sake A poem featured on medium.com.

Simon Spichak

#### Seven Myths and Misconceptions About Your Brain Can you distinguish fact from fiction? Available on medium.com.

J.A. Becker

#### How To Be An Effective Product Manager When Your Puppy is Eating Your Feet 8 tips for maintaining focus while working from home on medium.com.

Markus Scorelius

#### Corporate America has gone Nuts Addressing the absurdities in hiring and promotion practices on medium.com.

Jim McAulay

#### Putting An End To Scams Targeting vulnerable elderly populations on medium.com.

Najwa Helyer

#### Telling Someone They Lost Weight Is Not Always A Compliment Understanding the nuances of body commentary on medium.com.

Terry Trueman

#### Upon Being Accepted for Publication on Medium.com Reflections on the writing journey on medium.com.

UHNU

#### Time Does Not Apologize For Us A Thanksgiving poem featured on medium.com.

Bill Abbate

#### The Power of Imagination in the World Exploring the benefits of imagination on medium.com.

Dew Langrial

#### How to Use the Energy of Stories to Make or Break Your Life My personal stories keep me grounded on medium.com.

Vixen Lea

#### I don’t mean to complain, but… Vulnerability as raw truth-telling on medium.com.

Dr John Rose

#### Paranoia and my UPS Uninterruptable Power Supply for the delusional on medium.com.

Trista Ainsworth

#### The Keeper of the Things Embracing abundance on medium.com.

Emily Wilcox

#### A Particle of Birds A poem celebrating nature on medium.com.

Nuno Fabiao

#### 6 Years As a Single Father - A Nontypical Case Study Empowerment through feminism explored on medium.com.

Cornelia Alice Audie

#### Why the Words We Use to Define Ourselves Matter An exploration of identity on medium.com.

Terry Mansfield

#### Color Her Melancholy Exploring the spectrum of emotions on medium.com.

Kevin Lee

#### You Don’t Have To Be Original But Wouldn’t You Rather Be? Encouragement to embrace individuality on medium.com.

Joe Luca

#### I Miss My Hugs, Don’t You? Sending virtual hugs on medium.com.

Agnes Laurens

#### Hit Me Hard A poem about a panic attack on medium.com.

Alison

#### Want to Spread Some Happiness? Go for a Drive Discovering contentment on medium.com.

Chas Wyatt

#### Light at the End of the Tunnel A thank you note to the people of the USA on medium.com.

Galit Birk, PhD

#### Follow Through A haiku featured on medium.com.

Lena Le

#### Blank Stares A poem for the pained and unsure on medium.com.

Jim McAulay

#### My Python Biography In Illumination Occasional musings on Python on medium.com.

Ntathu Allen

#### I Am A Writer An acrostic poem inspired by morning thoughts on medium.com.

Viktor Marchev

#### Do Dishonest People Lead Better Lives Than People Who Do Good? Lessons on merit from ancient Greek philosophers on medium.com.

The Dozen

#### The Coronavirus Conversation Has Shifted Shifting perspectives on vaccine availability on medium.com.

Floyd Mori

#### Death Comes Without Warning Reflections on mortality on medium.com.

Brian E. Wish, PhD

#### Twelve Star Trek Characters We Need To See Again A nostalgic look at Star Trek on medium.com.

Deepak Sethi

#### Converting Dreams to Reality in Four Actionable Steps A structured approach to success on medium.com.

Patrick M. Ohana

#### AI Attended An educational haiku featured on medium.com.

David Rudder

#### Whose Shoes Exploring a curious phenomenon on medium.com.

Ivette Cruz

#### The Kisses I Lost A haiku featured on medium.com.

Maria Rattray

#### Have Your Integrity Front And Center Your conscience will thank you on medium.com.

John Ross

#### So What If I Don’t Want To Be Thankful? Exploring gratitude on medium.com.

liveconvos

#### Extra Reasons to be Thankful this Thanksgiving Celebrating Thanksgiving amidst the new normal on medium.com.

Akarsh Nalawade

#### Curb Your Instincts: It’s All Gravy Insights from Hans Rosling’s “Factfulness” on medium.com.

SamaFathima

#### What Is B4U Global? Saving your digital future with B4U Wallet on medium.com.

Marty de Jonge

#### Centum — A 100-Word Story A narrative of an unused kitchen on medium.com.

John Cunningham

#### Want a Brighter Future, Release Your Past Encouraging Milena to let go of worries on medium.com.

Alper Çak?r

#### 7 Perspective-Changing Quotes from Atatürk “Peace at Home, Peace in the World” on medium.com.

Tobou Egbekun

#### What you didn't know about the “fake it, till you make it” mantra Exploring the origins of the phrase on medium.com.

Jennifer Marie

#### The Unfortunate Reality of How a Child Can Lose Hope and Never Get it Back Examining the impact of failures on children on medium.com.

Aldric Chen

#### How Many Publications Do You Really Need? Reflecting on what truly matters on medium.com.

GFC: Grown Folk Conversations

#### Top 10 All-Inclusive Holiday Hosting Tips Essential tips just in time for the New Year on medium.com.

Shashidhar Sastry

#### The Quality of Small Things Caring as a sign of civilization on medium.com.

Enne Baker

#### Fake Smile A poem featured on medium.com.

Liam Ireland

#### The Art Of The Deal, Or Sharp Practice? Debating buyer honesty on medium.com.

Enzo M. Battista-Dowds PhD. RD.

#### Going for alcohol-free beer: A silly experience Importance of reading labels on medium.com.

Allen D

#### 12 Pet Friendly Flower Plants to Have at Home Choosing safe flowers for pets on medium.com.

Randy Wolken

#### Let Yourself Be Playful Encouraging playfulness for happiness on medium.com.

Elle

#### How to buy nice presents when you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck Interest-free plans for holiday shopping on medium.com.

Tom Matsuda

#### Three Japanese Habits That The World Could Benefit From Right Now Cultural insights for resilience post-pandemic on medium.com.

Samantha Scott

#### From Couch Potatoes To Productivity Rockstars Managing remote teams effectively on medium.com.

Amy Culberg

#### How Sex Leads To Literature. Exploring the connection between crushes and reading on medium.com.

EP McKnight, MEd

#### Seven Simple Tips Living Your Fullest Emphasizing quality of life over quantity on medium.com.

M. Mollenthiel

#### Poem#3 A vivid depiction of a decaying bench on medium.com.

Thank you for engaging with our stories. You can find many more enjoyable narratives hosted on our publication. Given the large number of contributors, we cannot feature all stories in one list. We hope you appreciate this selection.

We share daily stories with readers through various platforms. Here’s the link to our publication for more engaging content.