Medium Boost and Vocal Top Story in the Same Day?

I’m not a person who considers herself “lucky”.

If I do have faith in anything close to luck, it’s karma. I try to be a good person, because I’ve always believed that if you do nice things, nice things will come back to you.

I cling to that belief, to the point it’s become somewhat of a mantra to me.

This is despite all of the decidedly not nice things that have happened to me over the past decade: sexual assault, domestic violence, workplace harassment (resulting in a very necessary career change), stonewalling, manipulation by a truly disgusting slumlord…

To put it lightly: it’s been a bumpy ride.

Let Me Tell You Now, You’re the Lucky One

I’ve been an avid writer for years, but it was only within this past year that I discovered the joy that stems from sharing my experiences publicly.

I began blogging about my adventures in CPTSD recovery in the hopes of finding the voice that was smothered for so long while using my experiences to help others cope with their trauma.

The growth was slow at first, but steady, each notification and supportive comment warming and soothing my most damaged parts.

This, I’m certain, is the goodness I’ve worked to put out into the world. It’s taken a while, but it’s finally flowing back to me.

Medium Boost

Yesterday, I learned that my article, 4 Ways My CPTSD Brain is Annoying as Hell Today, was accepted into Invisible Illness, the largest mental health publication on Medium.

I’m a huge fan of this publication, so being able to contribute in any way is worth celebrating in itself.

But then I noticed that mysterious squiggly arrow next to my post.

It turned out my article had been Boosted by Invisible Illness editors! This was a first for me, and when I tell you I gasped aloud at this honor.

The response that’s come with the Boost has been astounding. My followers and reads have shot up as my writing has reached a wider audience. I’ve been amazed to see the way it’s allowed people to discover my other articles as well.

It’s been tough to not get distracted refreshing my browser every few minutes to see notifications from supporters.

From people who believe me.

As an abuse survivor who’s spent years having my experiences dismissed and invalidated, I can’t tell you how much that’s worth to me.

It’s truly everything.

Love on Top: Making Vocal+ Top Story

But the excitement didn’t stop there.

I’ve recently been working on repurposing some of my writing for my Vocal+ blog, which has been admittedly neglected as I focused my efforts on Medium.

Yesterday, I posted an old, lighthearted poem I wrote called Chip On Your Shoulder.

I don’t have a huge readership on Vocal+ just yet, so expectations were low. I hit submit and closed the tab without much thought.

Until this morning when I noticed that the poem had hit Top Story!

Chip on Your Shoulder

This is my second Top Story on Vocal+, the other being one of my more popular articles from Medium: The Annoying Trauma Response Born of Narcissistic Abuse: Overexplaining, Explained.

Like many of you, I’m energized by my love of writing and reading, but it can be a struggle to not know if we’re making an impact.

The validation of having my writing recognized by these communities at all, much less twice in one day, has been rolling over me in waves.

Thank You Doesn’t Begin to Cut It

It’s indescribably meaningful to finally have a space where I can share experiences that are so difficult to speak about aloud. I’m unbelievably grateful for these blogging communities for providing a supportive space to receive feedback and hone my writing skills.

Thank you for allowing me to use my love of writing to fight against something terrible that continues to happen to so many others every day.

And all of that grounding support and goodness that’s finally flowing my way? I hope to use this position to radiate that love right back to those who need it.

I’m so Glad You’re Here

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Veronica Wren Trauma Recovery Book Club

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