7. Don't Talk for a Whole Day

Born with the gift of gab, I was.  There's just so many things happening all the time that are worth sharing!  Look around you.  Look inside.  Look underneath.  Listen.  Feel.  We're so immersed in sensations: physical, emotional, auditory, visual - shouldn't we be relating these wonderful and terrible things to each other?

I think I talk to bridge the gap between myself and other people.  We people tend to keep our relationships superficial, especially during the beginning stages.  We limit our conversations to our occupations and our pets, which, mind you, is a perfectly acceptable way to start.  But I want to know you and I want you to know me, the real me.  The real me leaves her job at work when she clocks out.  The real me explores feelings and asks lots of questions.  The real me has a lot of demands of the world and ideas that run so so much deeper than the average conversation goes.  I think most people can say the same, so why are we being so... secretive?  I think that if I share some of those deeper thoughts with you, maybe you'll feel safe enough to share a little more of yourself with me.

We have to talk about things which are important to us, so we can evolve as a society.  We have to talk about the funny stuff so we can have a little laugh in this crazy stressful world.  We have to talk about the meaningless stuff just to pass the time on a hot day.  We have to talk about sexy men just to make sure we all agree!

On Friday, I accepted a challenge to not speak for the whole day.  I made it all the way until 4:00.  I was silent through my visit to the grocery store, when the cashier tried to start a conversation only to be met with silence and miming.  I was silent at the gas station, when the attendant asked me what I wanted and I could only point.  Both of these people thought I was deaf, I think, because after they realized I couldn't talk they looked me right in the eye and enunciated very well, moving their lips clearly just in case I needed to read them.  Which I found to be very sweet.  I could hear though.  Just couldn't, no, wouldn't, talk.

The story of my failure isn't a very interesting one, I'm afraid.  Of course, I'm going to tell you anyway.  We've already established that I'm a sharer and this shall be no exception!  When I fell off the wagon, I simply forgot that I was on a wagon and began my normal chatter with Ralgh.  It was exclamations of joy over making it to the Oregon coast, mixed with disciplinary commands, mixed with questions.  Yes, tons of questions.  "Do you want some water, Ralgh?"  "Are you a good boy, Ralgh?"  "Do you want to go for a walk, Ralgh?"  A half an hour into our gabfest, I interrupted, "Shit!  I failed!"  And Ralgh totally didn't care.