When I found out about Odyssey, I was thrilled. It felt so exciting to write for a platform as large and accepting as this one. Don't get me wrong, I still feel this way, but there was an underlying element to the whole thing that I was unprepared for.
Look, I'm terrible at making friends. I'm awkward in social situations and anxiety gets the best of me. I'm working on it, I promise, but it's hard to create content when there's not a bunch of people ready and willing to like the crap out of anything I put up. Nothing against people who have armies like this, I'm just really jealous.
At first, I thought I could be one of those writers who didn't care if even one person read my content as long as I could get it published. It sucks to realize that I am in no way in that mindset.
I'm very proud of my content, and having my own pride should really be enough, but there would be something special about having a group of people that would actually read any piece I put out and share it because they agree with me or just want to share my story. I see a lot of creators who are fortunate enough to have friends like this, and I am beyond envious. More friends mean more shares, and more shares mean more views, which means I'm more likely to be featured on more platforms. Unfortunately, right now I'm just relying on a good headline to even get a handful of people to read my work.
I'm not discouraged by any of this, it just sucks sometimes to think that all the hard work I put into a piece will get very little views because of my stubborn social anxiety.
But, you know what, I guess this will have to be my motivation.