Against Rick Springfield’s Advice, I DO Talk to Strangers

I mentioned in an older blog post that my last manager called me a collector of people because I talk to strangers. I unintentionally network! LOL It comes naturally, and I’ve been “running into people” who have become a supportive network that flows in both directions. We help each other.

Quick recap of the past month and a half:

• I said my most powerful magic words: “Fuck this shit…” and got moving.

• I posted my first TikTok on Talk Like a Pirate Day with only single-digit followers.

• By the end of the first week of October, I wrote about self-promotion and how YOU have to be YOUR Own Cheerleader First. Since this post, I have had daily traffic to tacosandtiaras.com! I feel happy that I opened a flow that comes in even when I haven’t published a new blog post.

• I wrote a follow-up post about everything that happened between 16 September and 16 October when I published, Brave: I Let the Words Fall Out, and a Portal Opened.

• Earlier this week I published, GO FOR IT! Try and Catch the Wind…Because You Just Might. I forgot to mention that songfacts.com states that Donovan wrote Catch the Wind about unrequited love but eventually he got the girl. 😉

When I published my previous post,, I was close to 2,000 followers on TikTok, and on Monday I passed it. That means more people to reach with humor, music, and positivity as well as to support for THEIR creations. “Follow for follow” or F4F in TikTok-speak. I feel overwhelming amounts of gratitude for the kindness and encouragement or words of “relatability” I receive, just as I am happy to like and comment on their posts. I see so much appreciation, not validation, going back and forth between creators who are technically strangers. And THAT is a beautiful thing.

And yes, I still have a TikTok blog post in the works, but for today, I have something else to say about talking to strangers. And it’s still Cybersecurity Awareness Month!!!

Aside from awareness of scams on social media, you have to be careful in general when it comes to connecting with people. Stranger danger! I know I expect everyone is a “good person” until I get the bad vibe or they do/say something that seems off. Then there are the people who seem to treat it like a dating service as if it should be TinderTok or InstaGirlfriend. To each his own… good luck to them.

Aside from the Tacos and Tiaras site, I have public accounts on social media because of the business analytics, and I use them as you might expect. As for my content, I am careful about my personal information whether it’s in writing, a picture, a video, or even in correspondence with a connection. My personal Facebook remains private although I have a few public posts, but I keep my settings pretty “locked down”.

As for my friends list, we either know each other personally or met through mutual friends…on Facebook. I find truth in the joke, “We went to Facebook together!” lmmfao You know how it is! I have ONE exception very recently. I sent a friend request to a random “People You Might Know” even though we have no mutual friends. This was one of those “felt a nudge” things because his profile reads “positive vibes only”, but this brief connection ended up yielding a reminder that Facebook is different. He accepted my request, and we communicated on messenger – no pickup lines or shit like that – I even joked that this must be my social distancing equivalent of chatting with strangers in the grocery store. On my other social media accounts, “getting to know you” with new connections is normal, but on Facebook, maybe not so much. We were mid-conversation about a Halloween post when he blocked me. LOLOLOLOLOL Again, no pickup lines, no digging for info that scammers try to obtain… sigh…

I was thinking of Forrest Gump when Forrest and his bus driver learn each other’s names so that they’re no longer strangers. Interactions on social media is often between strangers, but we connect anyway. We simply need to stay safe and smart about what we share.

More than a dozen years ago, I met my “Buffett Phamily” through the BuffettNews forums when we organized meeting up at tailgates for Jimmy Buffett’s shows. Big groups of people in a public setting proved to be safe, and I stay in touch with many of them. Through the magic of Facebook, we have connected with more friends of friends, and for me, I feel eternally grateful for the true friends I met. All from talking to strangers.

When I post social media content, the majority of my audience is “strangers”. When my content gets a smile or a laugh, I’ve done what I set out to do. If my posts help someone to think and take action whether it’s to improve their mindset, get going with a project, try something new, overcome a fear, or anything that helps them to make their life better, then I am succeeding on my path. My content is what it is – not intended to be compared or critiqued, but to improve lives by letting my light shine. And it feels pretty fucking magickal to be able to do that for a stranger. I am enough. YOU are enough.

Luceat lux vestra.