... what’s so wrong with that?
She wears fluorescent green wellies, her jeans are turned up a little too much to be fashionable, and her blue waterproof coat is one size too large. Her dog trots along beside her and she is talking. She could be talking to the dog but, as he never appears to reply, she is in effect talking to herself. The writers among you will be preparing to use her as the batty lady who inadvertently becomes a key witness to a crime in a who-dun-it, or as the under-cover witch with awesome magical powers in a children’s novel, but before you unashamedly include her in your next piece of creative writing I must warn you that the lady is me.
I often talk to myself. It’s not a new phenomenon brought on by the recent stresses of an ill husband. I can clearly remember many years ago a teacher colleague looking round my classroom door, her brow furrowed at the sight of me chattering away to a pile of Year 3 artwork and an emerging wall display.
But why is there such a stigma in talking to yourself? I bet loads of you have done it in private and would happily do so in public if it wasn’t for those worried glances from passers-by in the street. Even in a crowd I’ll bet you’ve muttered things under your breath, keeping the tone way down low so others won’t hear, but why should you keep the tone low and why shouldn’t you talk to yourself?
Talking to yourself can clear the mind. When you read a manuscript out loud, you get a better awareness of the lumps and bumps that need ironing out. It’s the same with your thoughts, concerns, plans for the day, anything that’s going round and round in your head. Say it out loud and you can more clearly see what the problem is and what needs to be done. It’s also an excellent way of letting off steam, like shouting out ‘I don’t believe it!’ (or similar phrases) after running for a bus only to have the driver pull away as you reach the door?
Even if you’ve never, ever had the slightest desire to hold a conversation with yourself, there is one thing that I would urge you all to try at least once. You see, it is possible that when people thought they saw me on the park talking to myself they were mistaken. I was probably singing. I wouldn’t suggest trying this in a crowded street. If my voice is anything to go by it could well offend, but when I’m on my own I stride across the field in my fluorescent green wellies with my jeans turned up high enough to avoid the long wet grass and I sing to the birds and the trees, to the bushes, even to the rising sun. What's so wrong with that?
I just nodded my head in agreement with you as I read - well, except for the fluorescent wellies and rolled-up jeans look!
ReplyDeleteI talk to myself all the time, G continually asks who was on the phone or who called round. Happily, so far I've managed to restrict my singing to the house or car but I feel sure it'll burst out of me one day.
Keep talking and singing to yourself, it's a great way of working out dialogue or stories, makes you happy - and will give the writers local to you a great character to work with! ;)
I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to my characters! Just because no-one else can see them doesn't mean they're not real (to me), and just because no-one can hear them, doesn't mean I'm not having a meaningful dialogue. I am not ashamed! So why, then, do I always pretend to have been singing or clearing my throat when I'm caught doing it?
ReplyDeleteI talk to myself a lot inside my head. I just don't move my lips when I do it! That's the trick, ladies!
ReplyDeleteI'm still smiling at your lovely Blog. I talk to myself all the time, sometimes it is the only person who will answer me! Seriously, I think we can't be human if we don't. Sometimes, I am so engrossed in my thoughts and then I find myself loudly anwering some imgainery person back......! CB and friends know I'm crazy and they accept it. More should try it, if nothing else, it will make someone smile! Hugs to you and Rod and woofs from the poochies x
ReplyDeleteHi Kath, so glad you agree and I'm not the only one who talks to themselves. You're right about it making you happy and as for the local writers using me as a character... that's fine by me!
ReplyDeleteHi Jane. You're so right. It's a shame that we have to turn a chat into a cough when people appear. It's just the way we've been brought up I suppose.
ReplyDeleteHi Talli, why not try moving those lips and joining in with the rest of us. It's liberating. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Pauline. You're not crazy, well no more crazy than the rest of us. It's perfectly natural to talk to ourselves and, as you say, more should try it. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI've been talking to myself all my life but it's become much more normal and acceptable now as passers by just assume you're talking on your cell phone. You don't even have to have one in sight becaue so many people use those Bluetooth ear pieces / headset or whatever those things are called
ReplyDeleteI talk to myself too! It's fun - and I hardly ever get into arguments with myself... :)
ReplyDeleteI'm like Talli, I keep these conversations in my head but I'll suddenly speak the words aloud mid-conversation trying to include the person next to me and, of course, I only get a baffled look from them.
ReplyDeleteHi Ann. You're so right. People do walk around chatting into their Bluetooth devices these days.
ReplyDeleteHi Jemi, it is fun and of course you always get the right reply. I suppose it's when you realise you're not bothering to listen to yourself that you have to really start worrying! ;-)
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah, blurting out words mid-conversation sounds hilarious. No wonder you get baffled looks. Maybe you should join the rest of us who, it would appear, mutter away to ourselves most of the time!
ReplyDeleteYes, just like Talli, I do tend to talk a lot to myself without moving my lips but, many times, I sound aloud a sentence or two that I want to use in a story.
ReplyDeleteAnd if I hear a funny piece of dialogue while I'm out and about, I'll repeat it several times to myself if I don't have a piece of paper and pen with me.
It's fun!
Occasionally I worry that the conversations I've been having inside my head have been spoken out loud, and that'd probably get me committed since they're usually between fictional people!
ReplyDeleteI use the dog as cover for talking to myself, so long as no one gets too close. And as for singing? I sing to myself all the time, but especially if I'm nervous. Like when I was skiing earlier in the year. Apparently this isn't normal, though...
Hi Marisa, so you're another silent talker. I'm now wondering where internal dialogue and talking to ourselves overlap. I suspect there's a fine line.
ReplyDeleteHi Cat/Kate, using the dog for cover is good but I have to disagree with you. Singing to yourself, especially when you're nervous, is perfectly normal. Even Anna did it in The King and I (Whistle a Happy Tune). If it's good enough for Deborah Kerr, it's good enough for us! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI talk to myself and the cats all the time. It's disconcerting for the (grown-up) children when they come to stay, but I've lived on my own for so long it's just what I do. Oh, how we laugh. Seriously, though, I have always talked to myself, from book-mad only child to book-mad old bat.
ReplyDeleteHi Lesley, my (grown-up) children are quite used to my continual chatter. Actually I think they stopped listening long ago! ;-)
ReplyDeleteRosalind, you rock my socks. I'm going to try this!
ReplyDeleteThanks Merrilee, rocking your socks! Wow! ;-)
ReplyDeleteHere's a tip to make you look, well, not quite as crazy. Buy a mobile phone hands free kit. You know, the type that hangs over your ear Put it on (it doesn't need to be plugged in) and talk away. Everyone will think that you are on the phone!
ReplyDeleteOnly you will really know the truth...
Thanks for the tip, KFC. Might just try it. It's a shame that we think we need to hide our self-talking behind bluetooth technology though. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI make a persistent strange humming sound. Stangely enough my mother did it too. Drives everybody mad, do you know what, don't care 'cos thats me!
ReplyDeleteHi Ros, I’m always talking to myself, not even aware I am doing it a lot of the time until I see the worried/puzzled looks of others. I find the singing and the shouting to myself very therapeutic too. But normally make sure no one else is around for the singing as I’m tone deaf. Love to you and Rod.
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