Talking to Myself

My captive audience

So I talk to myself.   Always have done.   I will also chat to inanimate objects.   I’m not fussy like that.    The other morning, I had a fascinating conversation with the coffee machine.  Before coffee and everything.

I have little or no memory of what I actually said to it but I do recall in my mind, it held onto every word.  What’s more there were no interruptions and once I think I saw it nod ever so slightly.

Then Smallest Boy stuck his head around the door and asked was I talking to myself again.

Nabbed.

It has just occurred to me that maybe the reason my boys never answer me is because they just assume I am deep in conversation with myself and not them.

When you talk to yourself or to inanimate objects or the presenters on the radio, you have a captive audience.   It’s very pleasing.  They are going nowhere.  They are also less likely to laugh at you and inform you in an unkind or scathing way that you are talking shite.

But there are other reasons why people talk to themselves.   They go as follows.

You might be lonely.

Self-esteem may be low or there is some kind of disorder present. (Thanks, Google)

You are a genius (thanks, Google)

Talking to yourself helps your brain work more efficiently by helping you focus on the job at hand.

It can help you achieve your goals.  By sounding out each step, things seem more concise and approachable thus making everything seem more doable. 

It enables you to syphon off stress.

Memory can be stimulated.  

We all need a pep talk every now and again so talking ourselves through something can be encouraging. 

Your attention span and concentration can be improved.

And the most interesting one of all is that everyone does it with kids being the most common offenders but as they grow up they tend to stop.   Popular belief is that small children are encouraged not to talk to themselves and are therefore trained out of it.  

So the next time you see a little kid talking to their stuffed toys or pushing around a truck filled with sand and engaged in a lively conversation, let them on.   They are playing and learning.

 

Same goes for the grown woman conversing with the coffee machine or arguing out loud with the trolley coin when it refuses to go into the slot.