Shhh, We’re Whispering

Last night was one of those nights where I just could not shut my brain off. I like to get a decent amount of sleep, preferably between seven and eight hours, but I can survive on six, and if I get any less than that it better be something darn fun that is preventing me from getting a good night’s sleep. When I can’t fall asleep it is usually because I’m simply not tired and for the times that I am still awake thinking I have a notepad and pen by the bed so I can write down whatever is in my head, which typically does the trick.

The paper and pen trick did not work last night. I wanted to talk. I had a million ideas running through my head and while I was thinking about them I was also thinking about how badly I just wanted to go to sleep so I could get up and start putting some of my ideas into place the next day. (Are you ever amazed by how much you can think about all at the same time? I am.) Put another way, I was excited to go to sleep so that I could turn around and get back up. All the excitement about the ideas and the thought of sleeping and getting back up completely ruined my inability to turn off my brain, and so I wanted to talk.

My husband and I share the world’s most comfortable king-size bed. It seems so big that sometimes I don’t even know he’s in it with me. The dog sleeps in her own world’s most comfortable dog bed on the floor at the foot of ours and she was sound asleep; I could tell from her breathing. I gave a quick glance over and confirmed my husband was indeed in the bed and I very quietly whispered “are you still awake?” He whispered back that he was.

I shared what was in my head in a very low whisper—I was excited to use the Flip video camera that we got for Christmas to video our dog and her friend Brody who we’re dog sitting. I had started thinking about the types of video we could coordinate and how we could post it on the blog which lead to all sorts of other dog, blog, and video thoughts. (Check out the Media page; this will be a work in progress.)

This sequence happened several more times. I would quietly whisper “are you still awake?” My husband would whisper back that he was and I would share the next thing—I do want to get up and run eight miles; we’re going to have stuffed peppers for dinner—all whispered dialogue. Also a one-way conversation but that’s beside the point.

I finally fell asleep and spent the morning’s run thinking about whispering. It’s kind of like yawning. If someone yawns it triggers you to yawn (are you yawning yet?). If someone whispers to you, it’s pretty unlikely that you’re going to yell at them. You’re going to whisper back. I decided that our whispering last night was also kind of funny because who were we going to wake up? Certainly not the dog. I’m glad we whispered. It’s a peaceful way to communicate, it’s calm, gentle, makes you feel like you’re telling or receiving a secret which makes the conversation that much more enjoyable.

There is so much noise around us that sometimes it’s just nice to turn the volume down on your own world (guys, just don’t mute us).