So Many Vocal Stories

Introduction

The are close to a million stories on Vocal and I believe about 800,000 members. I don't know how many of them are V+ members but it is irrelevant for this piece.

This is about how I am often overwhelmed and so appreciative of those that I see be supportive of me and others on the platform.

The music is "I'll Be There For You" by The Rembrandts, which is the theme from Friends, because, hopefully we are friends on here.

So What Is My Problem?

I like to connect with people, so if I find a story I like, I check a few others by the creator and then if they all hit the spot I subscribe. I also share a few Vocal Creator profiles on my Creationati section on my Vocal profile, though I think some are now inactive, and most don't even know they are there (though three or four do).

This means that my notifications get flooded with publications, which does affect me badly, but there is no way around it because Vocal refuse to see it as an issue. My subscription feed gives me the option to pick and choose what in a more sedate way.

But I see so many stories and I think, that I can't read or even acknowledge as many as I should, and that makes me feel useless, incompetent and unsupportive. I know that is competely wrong but I still feel like this.

Ironically the Vocal Leaderboard emphasises this in me, so I try not to check it out to make me feel a little better, but I know I need to go there to congratualte the ones who get the success. We do need to engage with each other and acknowledge the good work that others do because often we are beneficiaries of what they do, and they give us a goal to aim for.

I do try to read stories but feel I don't do enough. I see lots of other creators commenting on and sharing others stories and I think "I should be doing more of that".

The thing is that sometimes my writing, like with this piece, stops me from reading because this is holding my attention, I don't think that is wrong because we want to share our thoughts and creations and provoke reactions from our friends and other creators.

I have lived with this feeling for a long time and I know that it will keep on making me feel this way.

I suppose this is reflected in the number of books that I have bought and still have to read. I currently have three on the go, "Imajica" by Clive Barker, "The Pie At Night" by Stuart Maconie and "Carol" by Patricia Highsmith, and they are just the ones that I am reading, there are a lot more I have to read as well.

These are what I read outside of Vocal, as well aplaying games, walking , watching TV and listening to and playing music.

Conclusion

When I miss your stories, it is not because I am being lazy, although I feel that I am, it is because my time is taken up by other things. There are too many stories on Vocal for me to read, even just in the communities that I normally contribute to. but in the same way, I know that the only person who will ever read all my stories is me. Two thousand and one hundred Vocal stories is way beyond any intellect, not least because my writing jumps over many Vocal communities and genres.

If you have got to this point, thank you so much for your engagement and support, and would love to know what you think about all this.