Losing Vocal Friends and Finding Vocal Friendship

I don’t know what it was, but it came to mind how my Vocal friends seem to be in an almost constant state of flux. Many people I used to engage with seem to have disappeared from my circle, although new ones are constantly coming into it.

I have no intention of naming anybody in this piece and in a way if I was still engaging with everyone on my friend list I probably wouldn’t have time to live my life.

I think I have a hard core of friends who engage and message me on a regular basis, and I am a total attention whore, as you may have noticed. I don’t like being ignored or left out and that usually manifests itself in me getting a little upset, although I do realize that I am a tiny almost insignificant part in the scheme of things and I seriously believe if I didn't show myself or respond for a few days, people would not notice I had gone.

I don’t tend to chase after people who stop interacting with me as I believe I must be past my sell-by date for them, but I keep on writing and maybe hope that people will see my work and then engage with me.

The thing is I do gain new friends and I try to support and encourage them, and I believe that usually, that ends up being reciprocal.

This is the lesson to learn from this. Let people go if they want to go, but always be open to new friendships, you never know what they might bring you.

Since I started on Vocal over a year ago I have gained a lot of friends. Prior to joining Vocal my interaction on Facebook was very sparse, but since joining the various Facebook Vocal groups I have gained a lot of great friends and I believe that they will be with me forever.

They have encouraged my writing and caused me to believe in myself far more than my offline friends, though that is not a denigration of my offline friends. Most of them would take me in, no questions asked if I turned up on their doorstep at four in the morning and they are always there on the other end of the phone line.

My Vocal friendships are slightly different because most of my Vocal friends are in Canada or the USA, plus Australia and mainland Europe. I have a few Vocal friends in the UK but they are not physically close and probably wouldn’t want me coming too close to them, but they are extremely encouraging and supportive in the various Vocal arenas. Sometimes I have been almost brought to tears.

So although there is a little bit of sadness about the vocal friends who have drifted away, I have a lot of joy from the new Vocal friends who continually come into my life. Sometimes we find things in common, we usually love each other's work and actively encourage each other while giving advice and maybe a little constructive criticism.

I am generally unable to send friend requests because an old white male is often seen as a predatory pervert, but that is a sign of the times. People do get to know me and send me friend requests which I accept if I find that they are friends of friends of fellow Vocal creators.

So I will continue to enjoy my time being a Vocal Creator as long as I don’t lose my friends (that is a constant worry to me) and I still can give and take love and encouragement to the people who count me as their friend and maybe something more.