Thursday, January 27, 2011

Talk. Expound. Chit-chat. Speak.

I'm a flibbertigibbet. Not in the flighty, gossipy way, more in the I chatter way too much. I can't help it.
The more meetings I go to and the more I go visiting teaching, the more nights I spend at home hitting my head on the wall for how much I talked. I come home and I blame Johann (who was of course not present at said meetings) for not telling me to shut it. He of course tells me he wasn't there, how could he tell me to shut it. That's when I get him with technology-you could have text messaged it!
Moving on.
I'm not sure where my need to talk and talk and talk comes from. Part of it is probably spending most of my time with a 2 year old. The other part is probably nurture/nature from childhood. We were never exactly 'well-off' so instead of having a junk-load of expensive toys and family vacations to occupy us (oh yeah and my parents often implemented no tv rules that lasted in monthly bouts) we talked. A lot. Ok, we mostly beat each other up-we were in karate and had sparring gear so that makes it ok-but we also talked. A lot.
As a kid I was always given those really creative nicknames like "chatter-box," really guys? Anyway. I still get embarrassed when an adult who knew me growing up reminds me of my talkative heritage. It's one of the few things to make me go speechless for quite a while. Pathetic but true.
Yet, when we go home for breaks during school we inevitably end up sitting around talking.
I don't know that my enthusiasm for talking is topical. I think you could talk to me about anything and in my mind I would be able to connect it to something (thank you and no thank humanities & history training). In fact, the second someone mentions something, I start to think of all the different things it connects and relates to; I think about other things people have said in a similar tone, with similar facial expressions etc. After seeing the HBO film about Temple Grandin where someone mentions shoes and her mind registers every shoe she has ever seen I got a little weirded out and started to feel mildly autistic for a few days.
I have moved on from feeling mildly autistic but the annoyance with myself for not being able to be one of those graceful, prudent speakers has not. I admire that a lot.
I am trying though. I'm trying to reign it in. In the words of Anne Shirley:

"I know I chatter on far too much... but if you only knew how many things I want to say and don't. Give me some credit."

So I'll keep working on it and in the mean time, try and give me some credit. This post could have been quite a bit longer! =)

5 comments:

Jennie said...

Speaking of talking, we should get together and talk!

Bryan and Natalie said...

That's why we get along so well; you like to talk and I don't :)

SSToone said...

Thank you! I needed this today. My 2 year old is driving me crazy! When I go see others, I feel like a blabber mouth which leads to me feeling absolutely obnoxious but what can you do? Talking is therapy for moms!

Brooke said...

I love this. Sometimes it is nice to just write down everything you would love to talk to somebody about. I find it therapeutic and I like 'talking' to myself. haha.. But really. I love to talk, and it is in our nature as women I believe. Also, I love how you wanted to blame Johann for not 'stopping' you when he wasn't even there. So hilarious.

Ashby Family said...

he, he... you know what I remember, when we were kids all I wanted to do was listen to everyone talk in the living room when we got together. Lets face it our family can be pretty funny (in weird ways) I somehow got the talking thing too. Maybe it was the no tv thing at all when I was a kid but I think you have a point that it was just part of our heritage. ; )