Silence Is Golden

One of the greatest things about my job, apart from the fact that I get to listen to music all day every day, is that I am paid to talk.

Granted, I wake up at ungodly hours and have no social life to speak of, but still.  I am paid to yap, chat, prattle, babble, bang my gums, shoot the breeze, chew the fat.  Call it what you will.

Now, this is all well and good seeing as most of the time I am quite a chatterbox.  Which explains the general alarm when Siima is (gasp) QUIET.

It doesn’t happen often.

But sometimes, I just don’t feel like talking.  I just want to be still, be silent, and keep my thoughts to myself.
And there is nothing more annoying at times like these than everyone asking you what’s wrong and why you’re so quiet.

I go quiet for various reasons.  Maybe I’m not feeling too well.  Or I’m tired, or sad.  Or maybe, there’s someone in the room that I really, REALLY don’t want to talk to, but I don’t want to make it so obvious by talking to everyone else and ignoring them.  So I have to just ignore everyone.  Which on the one hand is good, because I can be left to my silence, until they all notice that I’ve gone quiet and start bugging me about it.

The thing is, I wish more people would take the time to just shut the hell up.

Politicians, for example.  Stop yapping and actually DO something useful.

Then there is always that one work colleague who feels that something is off kilter if they, and everyone else within a 5 mile radius, can’t hear their voice.  Whenever I come across such a person I have to fight the urge to stuff one of their (probably smelly) socks down their throat.

Speaking of smelly things, why is it that people with the worst oral hygiene are the ones who feel the need to invade your personal space when talking to you?  You try to keep a respectful distance, but then they refuse to project their voices and therefore get closer to you just to get their message across.  Why?  In the name of all things sacred and fragrant, why?!

I went to a Quaker school for 7 years, so I know quite a bit about sitting in silence, not to mention the benefits of doing so.  When I find my quiet spot I can think, plan, dream, and come up with something vaguely interesting to send to my editor so she doesn’t have to send me threatening emails.


All I’m saying is, once in a while, do yourself and the rest of the world a favour.  And shut the hell up.

Comments

  1. Miriam Mimi Nagadya17 March 2014 at 10:07

    Couldn't have put it better myself. Now to find my inner chi................

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RIP Rosemary

I never met Rosemary Nankabirwa. But I feel so sad at her passing. I feel sad that she succumbed to a disease we are still trying to beat. I feel sad that whoever took the time to announce her death on Twitter couldn't take the time to spell check. I'll put it down to grief. I feel sad that people tried to gain cheap popularity off of her illness. I hope she knew how many people turned out, in their own small way, to help. I hope she knew she was respected and admired. I hope God hears our prayers for her and for her family. I hope. When you lose someone, the world falls out from under your feet. I hope her family is given the time and space they need to grieve and remember her, away from the media, away from those who want to use this to their own advantage. I hope we all learn more about this terrible disease. I hope our government does more to make treatment available for all, regardless of social status. I hope. Rest, Rosemary. You fought your fight.
Read more

Untitled (or, my experience in a toxic work environment.)

I’ve been feeling guilty for the longest time that I haven’t posted on my blog for AGES: I even started questioning whether I could legitimately call it a blog anymore, considering how long it had been since I was inspired to write anything worth sharing. But I woke up yesterday and came across an article detailing a toxic work environment and when I tell you I was TRIGGERED. I know that word is used so often these days, but some of the instances described in that article catapulted me back to a situation I found myself in, that I haven’t felt able to speak about publicly. Until now. I consider myself extremely blessed to have worked in different positions where I was able to pursue my passions and dedicate my talents, all the while working with incredible people and learning from the best in the business. I was transferred from a job I loved, and thought I was performing well at (if my performance reviews were anything to go by, anyway). I didn’t understand why I was being mov
Read more

Stay Out of My Womb, Stay Out of My Business.

Something happened on air this morning that totally threw me off. We were discussing whether or not a parent should compensate a babysitter, or even a friend, if their child breaks something of theirs.  Like a phone, or laptop.  My stance is, if my child broke something belonging to someone I had asked to look after them, I would feel compelled to refund them or at least contribute towards the cost of getting a replacement. Big mistake, so it would seem. A female listener called the show.  Sternly, she asked me if I have any children, to which of course I answered in the negative.  She went on to say that the only reason I had that opinion is the fact that I do not have a child, as no mother would ask another mother to pay for something broken by a child.  (Please note, she ignored the fact that I said I would feel compelled to refund if my child had broken something belonging to someone else.  I didn’t say that I would demand money from someone if their child broke so
Read more