I'm one of those who usually have something "on" in the house -- the television, or music. But it's partly because in silence, my inner chatter actually seems LOUDER. Somehow, if there is some background noise, my chatter calms down. I'm not sure I understand why, but I do know that the thought of so much silence stresses me out a little.
This is not the case when I am deeply involved in reading a book, for instance -- I can do that quietly all day long. So clearly, the reading quiets my mind's chatter on its own.
My chatter doesn't tend to be about others. It tends to be about myself -- things I need to do, or things I feel about myself, areas in which I'm feeling like I'm falling short, things I'm trying not to forget, or just something that's on my mind. I wonder if you've been successful at calming this internal-focus type of chatter as well as the external-focus types you're writing about?
There is such a tendency today to multi-task. We are cooking dinner while kids are eating a snack, doing homework and asking questions. We watch television and fold laundry. We check our email and go to the gym with our ipods, stopping at the post office on the way. We combine business and pleasure, lunch and meetings. We get dog food on the way home, and check our calendars before bed. No wonder the chatterbox is on fulltime!
Would love to hear more of your thoughts. And thank you for writing.
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Allison, I loved your post.
I'm one of those who usually have something "on" in the house -- the television, or music. But it's partly because in silence, my inner chatter actually seems LOUDER. Somehow, if there is some background noise, my chatter calms down. I'm not sure I understand why, but I do know that the thought of so much silence stresses me out a little.
This is not the case when I am deeply involved in reading a book, for instance -- I can do that quietly all day long. So clearly, the reading quiets my mind's chatter on its own.
My chatter doesn't tend to be about others. It tends to be about myself -- things I need to do, or things I feel about myself, areas in which I'm feeling like I'm falling short, things I'm trying not to forget, or just something that's on my mind. I wonder if you've been successful at calming this internal-focus type of chatter as well as the external-focus types you're writing about?
There is such a tendency today to multi-task. We are cooking dinner while kids are eating a snack, doing homework and asking questions. We watch television and fold laundry. We check our email and go to the gym with our ipods, stopping at the post office on the way. We combine business and pleasure, lunch and meetings. We get dog food on the way home, and check our calendars before bed. No wonder the chatterbox is on fulltime!
Would love to hear more of your thoughts. And thank you for writing.
March 23, 2009 - 9:32amThis Comment
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