Catholic Thought and Curation
Not being curated may be a blessing and not a curse.
I do not believe the curators on Medium ever recommended my writing. I am not disappointed or surprised as I write from a perspective that I believe most curators would not understand. Especially, if they are not Catholic.
I think if I was curated, at least from the start, that would be a short cut. First, what does curated actually mean? It means that my writing is approved by employees or volunteers of Medium and they think other writers on Medium would enjoy it.
The world is bigger than Medium. It is large. (Sorry, I could not resist). I learned that if my purpose for writing is to get paid, then curation is important, but my purpose for writing is about sharing with people who will use my writing for their benefit. That changes the dynamic.
I am learning how to distribute my writing and often that means finding readers off platform. This means I do not get paid for their views, but I do not write to get paid, so that is not a problem.
Medium is like a daily and constant course in writing.
Medium gives me a venue to write, gives me a way to improve my writing and to read others’ writing — even if I am in not curated, I still get a great value for my five dollars per month. The same course would cost thousands of dollars and my curator would be one teacher who may or may not appreciate work.
I greatly appreciate the venue, the teaching and the opportunity. I desire to do my best for it because I owe it to Medium. Even if I am not curated, I can still be a voice for the platform and to attract others here.
This opens the door for my ability to improve and to do what I appreciate best: writing.
It does something else as well. It allows me to not only let my creative juices flow, but to work on ideas that editors outside of Medium would never appreciate or use. This is especially in the Catholic publishing world but the secular world as well.
Let me give you an example without giving away my latest idea.
Let’s say that I have an idea for a series of articles that is clearly beyond the vision but well within the scope of other publications. Now, let us say that I propose the idea. I have to make sure not only the editor, but anyone he or she is working with will appreciate the idea as well. If the team does not, then the idea dies and I have to propose it elsewhere. This does not mean it is a bad proposal, but it does not match their corporate vision for the publication. Further, I just wasted that time waiting for them to respond. Some Catholic publications take months to respond.
What if the idea is either unusual or even too politically incorrect for the publishing world. This does not mean that it is insulting and oppressive, it means that it is presenting ideas that established venues will not touch.
Know Christ Before You Preach Him to Others
Live your faith fully before you tell others how to live.medium.com
Noam Chomsky warned that media outlets develop a groupthink that matches the corporate vision of their owners. They will not touch any article that does not align with it. So, you may come up with a revolutionary idea, but it will go nowhere in the publication world precisely because it is a revolutionary idea. What this means is that it is outside the scope of most publications.
Let us take something that may appear benign, but that was most likely revolutionary for its time.
Peter Maurin was a mid-twentieth century Catholic man who followed the faith in the ways of St. Francis. He cared for the poor so radically, he was literally known to give the shirt off his back for someone who had even less. Portrayed in the movie Entertaining Angels by Martin Sheen, he gives his shoes to a poor man with sore cracked feet. This was Peter Maurin.
He wrote what were known as Easy Essays and one of them said that everyone is better off if everyone tries to be better. He proposes a form of voluntary capitalism and communism that works not from government regulation but from voluntary responsibility. Basically, everyone should not be seeking everything they can through capitalism, but living with what they most need through voluntary poverty for the sake of the common good. They should not be trying to make the next person give of their wealth to all as in communism but each one should work to give up the surplus of what he or she does not need.
It was a radical idea then and it is a radical idea now. In our current system of publications could such a proposal be written? Would an editor who makes high five or low six figures and drives a late model sports car be able to comprehend such an idea? How about other members of his team steeped in a meritocracy whose success is measured in exactly what kind of car he or she drives or which zip code they live in? Will anyone of that publication have any interest or ability to address Peter Maurin’s thoughts in their publication?Even more, adopt them?
St. Faustina and Divine Mercy
A look at St. Faustina and the Divine Mercy Devotionmedium.com
Now you do you see the power of Medium? The curators may be thinking in some but not all cultures, but that does not mean that other forms of marketing cannot be found for articles written outside of curation. It also means that the staff of Medium may not curate your ideas but they allow them to be published: marketing is on you. That is a good thing as it gives you an incredible amount of freedom.
This gives us a great potential that we can find no where else, even in high paying publications.
Not being curated just simply means the curators will not distribute your work for you, you have to find other methods and that is a good thing. I should know, I don’t think I have been curated yet.
Peter Maurin was not curated either. Granted he never wrote for Medium as he had died 1949 but his material was published by the Catholic Worker, which has never been part of the mainstream media in or out of the Catholic Church.