Do You Get Quiet? . . . .

 Do You Get Quiet?

In my life I've had a tendency to get quiet.  

What exactly do I mean by that?  Well, if I'm feeling overwhelmed, stressed, mis-understood, anxiety, etc... I tend to get 'quiet'.  It's been my go-to response when I don't know how to react to a certain situation.  

I don't know the right words to say so I become silent.  You know the saying, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.  

Part of it is not wanting to say something I'll later regret and part of it is a type of 'freeze' or 'fawn' type of trauma response.  

I'm guessing I'm not the only one who experiences this in life.  Some people are ready to fight it out, defend what they feel is right... some, like me, just draw inward into a shell until the 'storm' passes over.  

Unfortunately, my quietness can be misconstrued to make others think I'm angry, or that I think I'm better than the other person, or just plain flaky.  

It's just my emotional response.  I don't always do well with confrontation.  It just depends on the situation and the lack of confidence I have in myself.

Empaths also get 'quiet'.

As the picture above states, Empaths get quiet.  We can get overwhelmed as we pick up on the vibes of all of those around us, constantly reading people, feeling their feelings.... and the only way for Empaths to try to re-ground ourselves is to get quiet, to shut out all the vibrations and noises we're being subjected to.  

If you're not an Empath, it may be difficult to understand how we absorb the emotions/feelings of most everyone we come in close contact with.  It's not a choice as it just happens, but the choice we do have is to create healthy boundaries, meditation and even therapy.

All this to say, please don't be too quick to judge someone who has become 'quiet'.  They just need time to process what's been sensed from others.  We eventually come back to our grounded selves. ;)