if you know me, you know i’m awesome a creep. i mean, an endearing creep, but a creep nonetheless -more of a “i approach you to tell you that i love your cute outfit” and less of a ” i watch you from an undisclosed location with my night vision goggles” creep. just so we’re clear.

anywho, i think the area that i best display this alleged “creepy” behavior, is how comfortable i am with approaching strangers. be it in person, via email, via instagram, or facebook. i’m a “what’s the worst that could happen?” kind of gal. i mean, what is the worst that could happen? they don’t respond? well, hey, that happens all the time with people i actually know, so i’ve learned to not take that so personally anymore.

i’ve told you a time or two that i got on this kick a couple years back of emailing bloggers just to tell them how i awesome i found them to be and how it warranted a really great response and kind of/sort of resulted in one almostlationship. well, recently i did something kind of similar.

prior to writing an article for the printed issue, i’ve also been lucky enough to write two articles for darling online -one about how to find gratitude for your ex, and one about taking time in your singlehood to invest in your girlfriends. both articles warranted a few comments from girls expressing similar sentiments. knowing that my articles had touched others warmed my heart to no end. while some may have been content with sitting back and admiring said commentary, i wanted to take it a step further and personally thank each ladyfriend for their written response. in case you don’t know how blog comments work (but really, who does?), when someone comments on a post, the author of the post receives an email notification. included in the notification is the email address (most times) of the blog commentor his/herself. i mean, it’s easy access right there. it’s not like i googled them to find their email address or anything, there it was, just right there in my inbox for me to creep on.

i didn’t overdo it (i mean, i have standards), just a simple “thank you so much for reading and taking the time to leave a sweet note about my article.” i left no open ended questions or any specific details that would make them feel obligated to write back, my main goal in sending said electronic correspondence was simply to convey my sincerest gratitude. well what do you know, of the three gals i emailed, two of them wrote back and one has since become a pen pal of sorts! i mean, if you can designate penpalship after four email exchanges?

in fact, DPP (darling pen pal, for short) just wrote me an email this week after an almost month-long time passage. i’m not gonna lie, though we have never met (and probably won’t for a long time as she lives hundreds of miles away), seeing her name drop into my inbox has been one (of many) highlights to my week (yes, i get that it’s only wednesday). she inquired about my san francisco trip and updated me on the recent happenings in her life. in exchange, i gave her a run-down of my time in the city by the bay as well as a snapshot of what the past 30 days or so have looked like for yours truly (snapshot = see also: short novel, brief i am not). while i don’t know what the nature of this budding friendship will be, i’m just pretty stoked that my alleged “creepiness” has warranted me a new email buddy. just further proving that you just never know what can happen unless you are willing to put yourself out there first.

in other news, apparently my tendency to get my creep on has earned me a catch phrase. just recently, two different girlfriends have told me that they “pulled a shawna” by striking up a conversation with a stranger- one at church and one on a plane -and that both separate occasions have resulted in the exchange of information and a promise to reconnect at a later time. i mean, this is why i’m creepy obviously. to inspire others to do the same.  and to earn myself a catch phrase.

so tell that person in line that you think their hair is the perfect shade of auburn or that their baby really is darling (not just because that’s what you’re supposed to say to new moms). send a little message to that girl from high school that keeps liking your instagrams and facebook statuses just to tell her that it means a lot that she’s taken a vested interest in your life (that or she’s just really “like” happy and if so, well, she still deserves a thank you note). strike up a conversation with the guy whose line you often gravitate towards at trader joe’s every sunday when you’re doing your grocery stock-up for the week (that may or may not be also deemed as flirting, but if the shoe fits…).

go ahead, “pull a shawna.” maybe not today or tomorrow, but sometime. stop worrying about what people might do or think if you’re overly friendly or chatty with them. unless they are just an eeyore, they’ll probably oblige. honestly, you’d be surprised how far your creepiness will get you.