Thank you for sharing such a personal and relatable story with us.

I’ve also fallen prey to the Medium spiral. As you mentioned, I think it’s important for all of us to focus on writing what we NEED to write: the stories inside us that are begging to be told.

Lately I’ve been focusing on two questions to guide what I write:

1. What do I find myself thinking about a lot that I really want to share?
2. What could I share that could truly help someone else in their journey?

I think stories that check both those boxes are the ones we need to write about. Those stories have a magical ability to pull the best out of us. They also (usually) have the upside of resonating with readers, although that is a secondary focus.