Just So You Know, You're Reaching People

Sometimes you get exactly the reminder you need from someone who has absolutely no idea you needed it.

Saturday night, I was sitting on a patio having a drink with my husband when a woman walked out carrying two drinks.

She looked at me.

Then looked at me again.

Finally she stopped and said,

“You keep coming across my TikTok.”

Well.

That's never happened before. 😂

We started talking, and I learned that she wasn't even from right around here. She lives in another town and works even farther away.

Then she said something that stuck with me:

“Just so you know, you're reaching people. Not just around here.”

She couldn't possibly have known how much I needed to hear that.

Because Sometimes It Feels Like Nobody's Listening

I've been trying to build something lately.

Dear Bawsey.

TikTok.

Writing.

Sharing pieces of my life and the things I notice from behind the chair.

And I'll be honest—there are days when I wonder what the hell I'm doing.

You post something you really believe in.

Three likes.

You write something you think will resonate.

Crickets.

You spend time creating something you're proud of and start wondering if anybody even saw it.

We have all these ways of measuring whether something "worked" now.

Views.

Likes.

Comments.

Shares.

Followers.

Numbers everywhere.

And without realizing it, we start letting those numbers tell us whether what we're doing matters.

But Response and Impact Aren't the Same Thing

That's what I've been thinking about since Saturday night.

How many TikToks had that woman watched without me knowing?

I have no idea.

Had she ever commented?

I don't know.

Had she ever liked one?

Maybe. Maybe not.

From my side of the screen, she was invisible.

But I wasn't invisible to her.

And there's a difference.

It made me think about how often that probably happens outside of social media too.

Maybe you said something to someone years ago that they still remember.

Maybe your kid watched you do something you didn't think they noticed.

Maybe somebody saw you start over and quietly thought, If she can do it, maybe I can too.

Maybe someone read something you wrote on exactly the day they needed it and never said a word.

We don't always get to know.

We Look for Receipts

I think that's the hard part.

We want evidence.

If we helped somebody, we'd like them to tell us.

If they enjoyed something, we'd like them to hit the little heart.

If something we said mattered, we'd like some confirmation that it landed.

Basically, we'd like a receipt.

And most of the time, life doesn't give us one.

People are watching quietly.

Learning quietly.

Cheering quietly.

Sometimes even changing quietly.

And we'll never know.

Then every once in a while, a stranger walks out of a bar holding two drinks and hands you the receipt.

Keep Going Anyway

I've spent a lot of time lately wondering what I'm building with all of this.

I'm still figuring that part out.

But Saturday night reminded me that maybe I don't have to know exactly where it's going yet.

Maybe my job right now is simply to keep showing up.

Keep writing.

Keep talking.

Keep noticing.

Keep telling the stories I think are worth telling.

And trust that the numbers on a screen aren't the only measure of whether they're reaching somebody.

Because apparently, sometimes they are.

You just don't know it until they walk up and tell you.

So if you've been doing something lately and wondering whether anyone notices...

Maybe they do.

Maybe somebody is learning from you.

Maybe somebody is rooting for you.

Maybe somebody needed exactly what you put into the world.

And maybe they just haven't told you yet.

Love, Bawsey