Writing for the Mighty

Off of a recommendation of another blogger, I nervously submitted a piece of writing to the Mighty. I received the following response:
Hi Amber, 
Thank you for sharing your story with us. Unfortunately, we can't publish every story we receive on The Mighty, but we'd love to read more from you. We have a few writing challenges going on in our community. Would you consider writing about one of these topics for us?
I submitted another piece that I believed answered one of their writing prompts. I received another rejection, but this time, with a caveat:
Hi Amber, 
Thank you for sharing this with us. I read more of your blog after reading this story and came across this one -- that I really think would resonate with our community. Would you be interested in featuring this one on The Mighty instead?
And thus, my first Mighty post was published.

My picture and article on the front page of the Mighty.
I must admit, I panicked when I saw that post went live. On this blog, I have complete control over content and presentation of material. This was outside of my hands. Here was my voice, my struggles, my journey, on some unfamiliar website. It felt like my soul was exposed and incredibly vulnerable.

My first post went live and my biggest fear was that I would appear weak. My husband chuckled at the irony of the situation.

I submitted two more articles. I received two more rejections, and another caveat:
We don't have a lot of stories about Addison's disease or adrenal insufficiency. Would you be interested in writing an open letter to anyone who's just been diagnosed? What do you wish you could tell that person, based on your own experiences? What should that person know? What do you wish you'd known?
That led to this publication.

A few days ago, I received a hand written note welcoming me into the Mighty family.

"Thank you for sharing your stories with us and teaching our community about living with a Clearly Alive Mantra."
I want my written words to encourage others and inspire them. Life is not easy, and there is already enough negativity in the world. Additionally, living with a chronic disease that requires daily medicine is difficult. It is easy to slip into depression and hopelessness. I am done doing that. I choose life. I choose optimism. I choose to share my stories here. I want to prove that I am Clearly Alive, and I would like as many people to read my voice as possible.

I'm not sure how many more of my writings are going to be published on The Mighty. But I can tell you I am incredibly thankful for those that have been.

Just a photo of me, rocking my Mighty t-shirt.
Also, I have a cat.

Published Mighty Articles



Labels: , ,