silence confuses

Yesterday, a close friend came over for a short while. We hung out over coffee and chatted. Or rather each ranted about their own life. Their was a pause and with some music on, we just lazed. It unnerved him, the silence that is. He wanted to hear chatter, updates, asked what else several times, reaffirmed friendship status, talk about Vidya Balan, travel, books, everything anything but silence.

Silence with a friend is a decently accurate measure of how good the friendship is.

If you can be in a room, with someone and not necessarily feel the need to converse, yet know that you are not failing in your duty as a host or he/she in the role as a guest that is friendship. To be able to come over, and depending on the mood, be giggly like school girls, sympathetic listeners, the controlling monitors or just the silent watchers. It the balancing act that gives the friendship some depth.

Mr. Dependable is my silent coffee buddy. We can sit at the same coffee table, each doing their thing, pick up a conversation, laugh let it lead to others and then drop back into an amiable silence. Knowing that it is perfect to break whenever need be.

GR was a good silent guest last week. Mr. Postit is showing value of being that too. Never thought, the chatter box me would ever even ponder about this, but like my brother says living alone makes you value silence a lot more.

When brother dear would come home, he would walk around with a baffled look on his face, questioning why the house was so noisy.  Only now do I get, staying alone teaches you to make friends with silence, where it no longer seems the enemy that needs to be drowned with music or tv or ceaseless conversations. But can actually be enjoyed.

Am definitely growing old. Pass the wrinkle cream, please