Dreamer9177

December marks my anniversary since I joined Medium. I am having a wonderful time reading stories and writing my own. Medium has exposed me to some marvelous people I wish to meet in person. 

I know that my writing has improved this last year, but I still have a long way to go. Practice makes perfect. 

I love Medium, but I am also a realist, or, as some prefer, a pessimist. Medium is nothing more than a tool for all of us. It isn't Medium that writes the stories. It isn't Medium who sends words of support and wisdom to aspiring writers. 

For me, Medium is what I already described: a place for me to read wonderful stories and try to create my own. But to others, Medium is a means to make money from writing. I have no problem with that approach, but it isn't for me. I rarely check my “earnings,” but the only statistic worth mentioning is that I only made $4 one time in my entire year. That doesn't bother me. I'm obviously not a good enough writer to make that kind of money. I'm OK with that, but I sense a shift in Medium towards supporting the profitable writers first. Since I'm not a shareholder, I don't get a vote on things like that; when I was in the Navy, we’d say that decisions like those were above our pay grade.

As the new membership tiers arrive on Medium, I must smile and say no thanks. I can't afford the huge price increase. I'll stick with my current plan until they phase it out.   

“Why in the world are we here Surely not to live in pain and fear” John Lennon “Instant Karma”