Challenge no.7 - Silence is Golden?

Do not talk for an entire day.

Set by everyone.

There is a reason why many, many, many people set me this challenge.

I love to talk. I will talk about anything and I will make sure the conversation goes on as long as possible by mindlessly chattering away. I will discuss your new shoes for half an hour, easily.

People say that they are shy and that when they meet new people they find it hard to talk. I am shy (no, seriously), but the more nervous I am, the more I talk, it's not that the sound of my own voice comforts me, but I think talking distracts me from the situation. I find myself rambling on and on and on, people are nodding and smiling at me, but I can tell they are thinking 'this girl is crazy' I'm standing there chattering and laughing and thinking 'oh my god, they think I'm insane, if they don't talk back I'm going to end up telling them really personal stuff and it's going to get more awkward'. People who don't talk back to you are the worst. You tell them something, or ask them something and all you receive is a nod! WTF?! Have they not learnt the art of conversation?

Comfortable Silence, what's that?

This challenge was so difficult. When I woke up, I wrote a note explaining I will not be talking all day. My mother got on her knees and praised the Lord. Hilarious.

All day I carried round a notepad and pen with me, however my sister and mum wouldn't let me use it, because they thought it would be more fun for me to mime what I wished to express while they guessed. The guesses were not good. I tried to tell my mother how she is not funny, and she shouted 'what? The cat is here'. This was not due to my miming skills, they rocked, Sophie on the other hand was brilliant at figuring out my exaggerated gestures, definitely having her on my charades team.

All day I felt as though I was trapped in a glass box of frustration. I could hear everyone talking and I wanted to contribute but I couldn't.

The hardest part was when I wished to get people's attention or say really simple things, like 'pass that here'. As I couldn't shout I would have to either wave my arms around or actually get up and stand in front of them, once I had their attention I would then have to try and explain my needs. Shaking my hand in a reverse w**ker gesture to demonstrate that I needed the salt left everyone in fits, so I then mimed strangling but my obvious frustration just riled them on to feign ignorance even more.

I have to be honest, I did slip up 3 times, however one of those times was to tell my cat how adorable she is, so can you blame me? Look at her tiara!

This challenge did make me learn that I really do talk alot and I really do not think about what I say. It did also make me stop and consider what it is like for shy people who find it difficult to talk, maybe that is why I get no answer from them, they are just too shy. Really I still think that they are just extremely rude.

Difficulty rating: Not talk for a day! Impossible!

Fun Factor: Zero

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Challenge 7: FAILED!

Holly

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