Look how far we've come - Update 11/14/2024

When I started submitting to Vocal back in 2021, I did not think that I would be looking at upwards of 100 followers. I remember the days in my senior year of college when I had only three articles for the longest time: A Good Citizen, Secret Little Wars, and Just Desserts, each with hardly a dozen reads between them for the first month or so. It is an understatement to say that things were slow-going. Once the stats page was updated to show reading trends, it was downright disheartening seeing a flat line of reads resting firmly at zero.

So, imagine my surprise coming out of a medical procedure last week to see this on my stats page:

I think about then versus now and I find myself unsure whether to jump up and down for joy or quietly and humbly accept my milestone like some actor or scientist receiving an accolade in front of their peers. So for a lack of a general mental consensus, I am posting this update here and cutting that line right down the middle.

Granted, I haven't had too much luck in the reads and contest department as of late, but I still feel warm in the fact that my writing is being seen, that my voice has reached over a hundred ears over a thousand times! What magic is that, knowing that something birthed from your mind has met the discerning eye of your peers! I feel humble, yet I also feel gratified to have this community at my back.

I think what has really kept me going on this platform is not my followers or their statistical contributions or any sort of number, is is the connections that I've made. Ever since my bold decision nearly a year ago to connect with other Vocal authors on Discord (bold given the fact that I am EXTREMELY introverted), I have found myself in this wonderful community of authors and bookworms and artists. You were at first my critics, then you were -after a fashion- my role models for my writing aspirations, and finally you became my friends one-by-one.

These are only a few of the comments that have given my days a little extra light over the past couple months. Though my following might be smaller than some, I have some of the best people following me and reading my work and that makes me happier than I could be.

Thank you all.