Very apt and timely post, I know. Let’s not dwell on how many months it has been since the last post. Why bother focusing on things like empty promises and vague updates? Here is a new post, alive and well. If anything, let’s just chalk up the delay to building up the suspense and anticipation. I haven’t even introduced this topic yet so let’s start with that. You know those moments where you only realize you are part of one at the same moment you realize you wish you weren’t? Those moments where you want them to be over yet want to see what’s going to happen next? Fear of Awkward Silences. The worst.
Looking Around Nervously at Your Fear of Awkward Silences
Here’s a classic example: You’re amongst a mixed group of your friends and people you’ve never met before. Spread out, hiding behind furniture and unwatered potted plants in a room. Getting ready to jump out and yell “surprise!” when your mutual friend enters. Some people are live-streaming the event, some are nervously making small talk, some are just unsure what to do with their hands. The lights are off, you’ve been crouching for too long. Finally, you hear keys from the hallway outside, the sound of the handle turning, and in walks your friend! Well, you thought it was your friend. A less than stellar event has been planned. Turns out, you are in the wrong house and just surprised an elderly gentleman who has since fainted. Everyone stands around nervously. The live-stream is suddenly getting a lot more attention on Social Media. This is the birthplace of the concept of a Fear of Awkward Silences.
Fear of Awkward Silences don’t have to just happen with friends or even need to involve the elderly at all. In fact, many awkward silences can involve complete strangers. Like when you are stealthily trying to take a picture of a weirdo on a crowded but quiet train. You are trying different ways to angle your phone despite looks from those sitting around you. Finally you find a way to make it look like you’re rooting through your backpack but you’re actually doing your best Agent Cody Banks imitation to snap the perfect shot. Then someone starts calling you. Suddenly the latest Alvin & the Chipmunks single is filling the entire cart. Examples like this can also involve friends or family members too. Like when your slightly racist uncle tells his latest “have you heard the one about the…” joke during Thanksgiving brunch. Or when grandma sits on a pie.
Silencing Your Fear of Awkward Silences
One of the nice things about silences is knowing they can be suddenly interrupted with a loud sound. Small talk with family members during mandatory gatherings. A sneeze on a public train which triggers a domino effect of a dozen pairs of eyes staring at you with bewilderment. Or the sound of popping a balloon or a reason to blame the chair. Sounds of any kind will do when it comes to conquering silence. Even the sound of Slender Man walking through a forest, crunching on leaves is better than sheer quiet. Silence also does not have to be a bad thing. You can do things like meditate, read a Things I Fear book you bought on Amazon, sharing this post with your friends to help grow our following, and shameless self-promotion. So many great things come from silence!
