What It’s Like to Not Talk For A Day

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Krea chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

When I told my friends that I would be doing this as a challenge, they were more pleased than I hoped. But I didn’t let them get to me. They asked me very elaborate questions like:

“Why?”

Why not? 

Actually, there is a reason. It’s called boredom. You see, there is only so much you can do to entertain yourself at a university that is in the middle of nowhere. I really wanted a challenge, and I wanted to do something fun. I went and vented about this excessively to my friends, and they said, “Treia, can you shut up?”
BRILLIANT.

I was going to shut up. 

The night before the day I was to not speak for a day, I wrote on a post-it ‘Can’t talk. Vow of silence.’ to carry with me in case anyone were to ask me why I wasn’t speaking. I was prepared. I fell asleep with a smile and determination to annihilate this challenge.

I lost, first thing in the morning. 

To be fair, my roommate told me we lost the AC remote, and I had forgotten about my challenge, and I was sleepy, and it was really early in the morning. But then my roommate reminded me that I wasn’t supposed to speak, and my mouth shut faster than the Krea convenience store on a holiday.

It’s alright, mistakes happen.

I only had one class that day (a privilege of being a first-year student), and it was a midterm test, so I realized that I didn’t need to speak. Did that make it easier? No.

Not talking for some reason gave me the same sensation as not breathing. I felt like there was little to no air going into my lungs. I had a great moment of self-reflection. Am I really that much of a yapper?

I had always been someone who wanted to be perceived as nonchalant and mysterious, but after this revelation, I realized that I couldn’t be further from that. So my newfound motivation for that day was to be quiet, like a cool, nonchalant person who doesn’t use social media and whose last name no one knows. 

That didn’t last long either because my facial expressions, I’ve been told, are like I have subtitles on my face. I had to use these subtitles to communicate. That was one thing that made this challenge really enjoyable. Fun for others, not for me. Anytime I tried to communicate, it was just a never-ending game of charades for them. Trying to use sign language to ask for water so as not to die of thirst, I received smiles and giggles from these demons I call friends.

As it hit lunch time, I began to think that this challenge was a huge mistake. But then I opened my eyes. And by that I mean I opened Instagram. I opened it and I saw something that I cannot share. But to give you the gist, it sent a bowling ball down my chest. 

After that, I thought, “What a great day not to speak!”

And what a great day it was. I felt like a wise monk who was at peace with themselves and the world.

Being silent and just observing everything around me made me feel like Master Oogway. I didn’t feel like talking, and I had my headphones on the entire time. Everyone knew I was doing this challenge, and so no one questioned why I was silent. It was bliss. Bliss until I remembered I had football practice.

Now you may ask, “Treia, did you seriously go for football training and use butchered sign language to tell everyone, including your coach, that you cannot talk for the whole day, just because you made a bet with yourself out of boredom?”

Yes. Have you not been reading?

They all respected it too and weren’t surprised, which, now that I think of it, is a bit concerning that they just expected me to do something like this. But moving on, I figured that my moments of chill-guy peace would be ruined when I played football. I would be so frustrated from not being able to talk that all the zen-ness in me would evaporate.

To my surprise, this did not happen. I think that was the most relaxed I have ever been on the pitch. I was having fun, and I was playing well too. Maybe being silent is the way to go from now on.

I said this to my friend while we were sitting at Narsis. And by ‘said,’ I mean I had to spend 15 minutes acting it out, because, Jesus, she can be slow. Narsi buddy, you know who you are. We are never going to be on the same team for charades.

Anyways, Narsi buddy replied to my whole “maybe I should be silent forever” thing  by saying, and I quote,

“This no-talking thing was fun at first, but it’s now incredibly frustrating. Don’t let this feed your ego, but please never shut up again.”

I think it’s safe to say that I annihilated this challenge.