My short story journey so far

Hi everyone! I'm new here. Last February, I had the idea that I didn't want to wait for an agent, journal editor, or book deal to try and connect my writing with an audience that might enjoy it. So I started a substack and began publishing my stories with both a print and podcast/radiostream version as I wrote them, about 1 a week. I'm up to 31 so far, about 69,000 words written, and here are my reflections on the experience. I think it's made me a faster and more fearless writer, encouraged by the idea that what I put out there is probably far from perfect, but not over-edited or second-guessed to death. It also helps me feel inspired when I see someone from Croatia or the UK or Australia listening to the stories. Did I give them a little welcome excursion from their lives? If so, I can go to sleep smiling. While my download numbers have been nowhere near mind-blowing, maybe 16 to 60 per episode, I feel like it's enough of a conduit from creative isolation to keep the engine going. And now that I have a manuscript worth of stories (which as a genre happens to be harder to sell as a first book, from what I've read), I feel like I want to pursue traditional publishing and/or try to get an agent. Regardless of how THAT goes, this little experiment has confirmed that I do love writing for what it is, the process of my imagination coming to life, but that I also need someone to read or hear my words in the void to slay the shadow of futility that tries to creep in (a persistent little bugger). Maybe we're all seeking to leave meaningful traces of ourselves in a world in which we are passing quickly through? So that's all I wanted to share. Wish me luck on my agent/publisher search. I hear it can be like walking for years through the Sahara with a single bottle of water.