S for Sierra, S for Silence

Silence is golden they say, maybe that is why it seems so loud sometimes. Keeping quiet doesn't come naturally to me, I have always been a talkative one. Haughty strangers may make me shut-up warily for a bit while I chatter and bitch in my head but otherwise, most times people around me pray for me to shut-up. :D

The most torturous punishment I remember from childhood is the one in which I had to sit without moving or talking for a stipulated period. Oh, those things were difficult, I hated them. It was the worse punishment my parents could devise, but I guess they are my parents so are a step ahead of me. I can still hear Dad cajoling, threatening, and doing everything else to get me to just shut-up for a few minutes. :P

I am not my bubbliest with strangers but with my friends it's like I am talking long and fast to make up for the time we missed. I love talking, I don't deny that. Talking helps me rant, vent and sort my head out, it clears my thoughts, else it all feels like a jumbled mess in my head.

But there is another reason I think I talk too much, I don't like silences. Ok, let me correct that, I don't like some silences. For something that is empty, nothing, silence has so many types. The one I don't like the most is the uncomfortable silence (like, does anyone?), the ones that make you squirm and wonder what the other person is thinking.

My solution to dealing with an uncomfortable silence, fill it, fill it with inane chatter, insane chatter, random chatter, just about any chatter. There problem solved, there is no more an uncomfortable silence. Though the recipient of my solution may have a all new problem. :P

I do like silences though, give me a snow capped mountain, a green meadow with yellow daisies, a sun sprinkled beach or a book and I'll be silent for a long length. Except for the book, all the others can't be done in the city. As for the book, removing a book and reading it can sometimes be insulting to the person sharing the silence. So what to do?

How do I learn to make myself comfortable in uncomfortable silences? How do I learn to just keep quiet and listen rather than talk? How do I learn to find peace in silence?

These things I'm going to have to figure out. Maybe I'll start with visualising a beach next time I am in an odd silence. What do you think I should do?

Photo Credit: Nemo and PublicDomainPictures on Pixabay.