When You Say Nothing At All

It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word you can light up the dark
Try as I may I could never explain
What I hear when you don't say a thing

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes sayin' you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

Once again let me give credit where credit is due. The song 'When You Say Nothing At All" was written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz and released in 1988 by Keith Whitley. It was subsequently recorded by Alison Krauss and Ronan Keating. I must say I enjoy the Alison Kraus version the best. I just prefer to visualize her singing it then the others...MMMMMMMM Alison Krauss...can you blame me?

Okay, so why the song 'When You Say Nothing At All'? Isn't it a song about how two people in love can communicate with their hearts and souls and not only with their mouths? I guess I can believe that, however, in the context of my blog here, it simply represents the fact that I usually 'Say Nothing At All'. Or perhaps I lean more to the fact that I 'Say it best when' I 'Say Nothing At All'.

Do you know anyone who has conversations in his/her head? I am not talking about hearing voices 'Son of Sam' style. There are no voices in my head, be they real or imaginable, that are trying to make me commit some random act of sin. The voice in my head is me...Jesus that's scary enough!. I have conversations going on that I do not share with others, even when they are sitting next to me and the subject is them. Hmmm I just realized that I don't share well with others...perhaps that's where my childhood problems stem from. I don't look in the mirror and say 'You Talkin To Me', 'You Talkin To Me', Well I'm The Only One Here' in my best Robert DeNiro voice...Okay I don't have a best DeNiro voice. Sometimes, and very rarely, I will actually let slip out of my mouth what is actually being thought in my head. Folks be thankful for that very rarely part.

Saying nothing at all sure keeps me out of trouble for the most part. Let's face it I have a lot of thoughts that should most assuredly stay locked in the cob-webby recesses of my addled mind. I am even learning to replace the missing 'PC' filter with some good old common sense of late. Alright I fail at this still on a regular basis.

The relationships I have with my few good friends and family never required a continuous flow of conversation. I guess that's why I said 'few'. I am totally comfortable sitting in silence while enjoying someone else's presence. Yes, alcohol has been known to loosen the granite like grip on my tongue. Although I am a happy drunk, I am not drunk that often.

If you read my first post, 'You Don't Know Me', you will know that there are times when my reputation proceeds me and I feel the need to perform. It isn't really a need it's more like an expectation. After all performing is not really sharing what I'm thinking it is closer to just pulling out a rusty piece of comedic interlude from the dark filing cabinet with the drawer marked XXX. Don't get me wrong I still enjoy the 'Shock & Awe' of it all. However it still is not really me, just the me I let people know.

My thoughts are neither always dark and mean spirited, nor always deep and inspirational. They can be just the simplest of things that I choose not to communicate. Most times I tend to think myself out of saying things. Over thinking leads to missed opportunities, misunderstanding and misinterpretation but never, and I mean to the end of the world and back never, has it ever lead to Miss October [insert your favorite adult magazine here].

Thinking has always gotten in the way of reading a good book as my mind wonders in and out of the elaborate labyrinth of possibilities. Sometimes I have to read the past couple of pages again because although my eyes passed over the words my conscious had drifted away to some obscure, unrealized conversation.

Perhaps worst of all is the lack of sleep caused by the bottling plant in my skull. Caution contents under pressure, do not shake or place near a heat source. With the lack of communication comes lack of sleep. Perhaps a neurologist could install a simple yet handsome on/off switch just behind my right ear. Or better yet a faucet like pressure relief valve on the back of my head whereby I could drain the brain quickly for a better nights sleep. A simple set of requirements for this enhancement would be 1) make it the same size as my nose so I don't fall over backwards 2) might as well give me a chrome one so it will eventually blend in with my graying hair 3) design it with a detachable handle so no one else can turn it on and release the onslaught of undigested thoughts. Sorry that was the software analyst in me coming out...hey wait a minute, did I say that out loud? I guess I wasn't thinking!

And Yes...most unfortunately it has been the downfall of a few relationships and for that I am most regretful.

To conclude here is a quick quote on thinking:

"Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth, more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man." ~Bertrand Russell

Here is a link to the video 'When You Say Nothing At All'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjsjZWlRVvo