Thank you Vocal

I wanted to make a post to specifically thank Vocal for their site, and sparking a fire in me to give writing a try. I am not a professional writer, and quite honestly don't have the most writing experience other than journaling and some unfinished fan fictions that never made it to the internet. But I've always had this desire to write, even if I am not that great at it.

What I love the most about coming on here and writing is I am here to just write with no expectations of how the entry will perform. I feel creative and fulfilled in a way that I haven't for a very long time. Even though there are avenues to make extra cash which is amazing, and I am thankful for it. That for once isn't what is driving me to do something. This is strictly a hobby for me, and it feels nice.

You may be asking "Are you crazy, you don't want to get paid and do what you love?"

I would love nothing more than to be able to have a career where I am doing something that I love. But over the years I feel like I have become so consumed with this idea, that I begin doing something for all the wrong reasons. Not only did I not enjoy it as much, but I end up making content that is trending, but it isn't necessarily something that I am happy with.

I remember starting a Youtube channel back in 2015 doing makeup videos. I had put a lot of time and effort into filming and editing these videos, and then get frustrated when they didn't perform well. Looking back now I realize that even though I loved filming and I loved doing makeup, I wasn't doing it for the right reasons, there fore the channel was never going to be successful.

Remember when everyone was like "I am never getting TikTok, it's so dumb."

Then the events of 2020 hit, and now almost everyone has it. I got my own account in 2019 and began posting toward the end of that year. Back then it was so fun because it was a small community and we would post for fun. When the pandemic hit and the app became over populated it became less fun. Then I began watching all of my friends blow up and that started to mess with me mentally. I was happy for them, but I began letting my worth be determined by other peoples numbers. I no longer enjoyed making the content and I let my mood and day become altered due to these numbers. Since the step back I don't miss it as much as I thought I would. I miss making the videos themselves but I don't miss feeling worthless because a video didn't do well.

So to circle back to my gratitude for Vocal. Thank you for creating a safe space for creators of all types to come and create. I love all of the challenges you have to offer, even though I have yet to enter one they challenge you to do different styles of writing. The current challenge that they have going on right now for the short fiction is so amazing! It's motivated me to work on a story that I've had in mind for many years. So as competitive as I know this competition will be I will be proud of myself for finishing the story and just entering.

I hope everyone is enjoying their time here on Vocal as much as I am, and if you are feeling that you need a break from social media platforms just know that you're not alone. Take the break if you feel you need to, I promise it's worth it.