Blogvember post the 12th … chitter chatter is underrated
12 Nov 2012
A while ago one of my favourite people, with whom I speak far less often than I would like, remarked on the value of chitter chatter. It is the talk you have where you don’t really have to say anything of import, but that the pleasure is just in the conversing itself. You talk comfortably and a rambling fashion in chitter chatter. Women are good at it, but men are too in the sort of conversation they have in quiet moments, when no one else is listening. Chitter chatter is best conducted with close confidantes where indiscretions can be swept aside and ignored. It is not the conversations you have that are programmatic. They are not about process, events, times and dates. It is about dreams, wishes, aspirations. It is about the ephemera of life, the insubstantial and the deeply important.
What is missing at present in life, to my mind, together with the art of conversation, is opportunity for chitter chatter. There are fewer and fewer chances for these simple interchanges. They are the glue that sticks people together. I miss them. I miss the idyl of the recent past when I could engage with people I love to talk to as often as I would like.
I am committing to make more time for these important and yet slight conversations. They are extremely important for my inner life and I have been ignoring them by privileging the business and the manic pace of working and looking after those I love.
Chitter chatter is best accompanied by campari spritzers
Nov 14, 2012 @ 21:45:11
A dear friend called me today. Just hearing her voice made my day lighter. I settled-in ready to mull on things, dream, talk in thoughts rather than sentences. But in the way that some days just go, baby woke and demanded things. They were all reasonable things – like a feed, a clean nappy, some company. But they took me away from my dear friend. After I hung up I reaslied that sometimes, even when chitter chatter isn’t possible, the sound of a friend’s voice can be just heaven.
Nov 15, 2012 @ 14:16:07
It is definitely the stuff of life xox
Nov 13, 2012 @ 21:31:31
I read this and felt compelled to share my love of chitter chatter. I love sitting on my mother’s couch with my sister and just rambling away – it’s almost like meditation and I miss it when it’s over.
Nov 15, 2012 @ 14:15:37
Chitter chatter stays with you I find. It has a special resonance within.
I miss my favourite chitter-chatterer a lot.
Nov 12, 2012 @ 21:25:15
Interesting; I imagine that the world is full of chitter-chatter: inconsequential verbal froth of little import. I guess what you are saying is, take the time time to do it in more than a passing manner, and to revel in the experience. I must admit, on my days off, I like to take myself off to a favourite cafe, and read, write, or just listen to what’s going on around me, for an hour or two. Not that I make a habit of eavesdropping, but it can be quite fascinating. The point is, I can occasionally find the time for it, and recharge my batteries when I do, and I rather enjoy the one-off lightweight chats with strangers, when they arise. It’s the in-depth ones that can be difficult, as they can expose one’s limitations. There’s probably a blog post in that.