I Used the Last Money I Had to Tip Other Vocal Creators

Okay, I'll admit, I didn't really use all of the money I had left to tip other Vocal creators (I still have bills to pay), but I did use the last of the money I had in my Cash app, which is kind of a big deal. For the past few weeks, I have been sitting with a whopping $4.35 in my Cash app and now, it's just 35 cents (I couldn't figure out how to send the change). For the past year or so, the money I received through Cash app has been my main source of income. In my freshman year of college, I quickly figured out that I could avoid the stress of maintaining a full time job while in school if I put my writing skills to good use. So for four and a half years, I was the local paper writer for a number of fellow college students, which meant a lot of Cash app payments.

When I finished college about a month ago, I decided that I was also finished writing papers for other people. While I don't despise the humble beginnings that paid my bills and kept me from starving on a number of occasions, I needed to reclaim the passion that I once had for writing. And that couldn't happen if I continued writing persuasive essays about topics that I didn't even care about. So for about a month, my Cash app well had all but dried up. And because that remaining $4.35 wasn't going to do more than allow me to buy a few items off the dollar menu at McDonald's, I decided to invest it in other writers who might be on a similar journey as myself and in need of a little encouragement.

I was able to tip three people (one $2 and two $1 each) and although it wasn't a large amount, I know firsthand what that does to a writer's morale. When I received my first tip on here, I felt validated. It was amazing to me that someone found a whole dollar's worth of value in my work. On paper, a dollar might seem like a slap in the face, but for a struggling writer who has only had a dollar to give before, it meant that this person felt the need to support me in some way, even if they weren't able to do so on a large scale. And I hope that my one or two dollars will also give those other writers that same feeling. A feeling that there's someone who believes in what they do and wants them to keep creating, even if it doesn't look very lucrative or realistic at first.

It's unfortunate that as writers, we can't survive off of our art alone. Money makes the world go round and by giving to a writer, you're not just giving them an extra confidence boost, but you're funding their ability to keep creating in a world that requires money to survive. And who knows this better than another writer?

Hopefully, I can have more financial success through my writing and my other projects so that I am able to invest in the lives of other writers more often and at a larger scale. Until then, I'll do my part to give someone the nudge they need in the right direction, just like some anonymous Vocal user did for me with just a like and a dollar. Here's to paying it forward!

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